Israel's leaders blame Hamas for bombing
18/04/2006 - 18:33:47Israel’s leaders today blamed the Hamas-led Palestinian government for the worst suicide bombing in 20 months but decided against launching a large-scale military operation, an apparent attempt to avoid escalating violence in Israel’s showdown with the Islamic militant group.
Israeli officials said the measured response would help preserve the strong international front against Hamas.
But they said Israel will take all steps it deems necessary, including assassinating militants, to prevent further attacks.
Yesterday’s blast outside a Tel Aviv restaurant, which killed nine people and wounded dozens others, was carried out by the Islamic Jihad militant group.
Although Hamas was not directly involved, its leaders defended the attack as a justified response to Israeli military strikes against Palestinian militants.
Interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with top officials and security chiefs for two hours today to weigh a response.
The group decided to hold Hamas accountable because it didn’t denounce the bombing.
“Israel sees the Palestinian Authority as responsible for what happened yesterday,” said Gideon Meir, a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official.
But Olmert decided against launching a large-scale military operation and blocked a proposal to declare the Palestinian Authority an “enemy entity”, participants said.
Such a declaration would have paved the way for direct strikes against the Palestinian Authority.
Until now, economic and political boycotts have been Israel’s main tools against the Hamas government.
Israeli officials said the government is pleased with the strong international front against Hamas and does not want to jeopardise that through overwhelming military action.
Western donors have cut off tens of millions of dollars in direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, demanding that Hamas renounce violence and recognise Israel’s right to exist.
Hamas has rejected the calls, despite a mounting financial crisis that has left the government broke and unable to pay the salaries of 140,000 employees.
One senior Israeli official said it is not realistic to expect Israel to immediately carry out large-scale airstrikes as a knee-jerk response to Palestinian violence.
“This doesn’t mean you won’t see more targeted killings and other operational things,” he said. “It has to be done in an effective way that the whole international community will understand.”
Officials said responses would likely include assassinations of bombing masterminds, arrest raids of Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank, where yesterday’s bomber lived, and tighter travel restrictions in the area.
Such actions would be in line with the recent policies of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was incapacitated by a stroke in January.
Officials said they believe the policies, combined with Israel’s West Bank separation barrier, have been effective in preventing attacks.
In Washington, US President George Bush was asked by a reporter whether he had encouraged Israel to show restraint.
“I have consistently reminded all parties that they must be mindful of whatever actions they take and mindful of the consequences,” Bush said.
Aides to Olmert said he is well aware of the need to maintain international support, especially as he prepares to carry out a unilateral withdrawal from much of the West Bank.
Olmert says he will carry out the pullout if he concludes there is no negotiating partner on the Palestinian side – a likely scenario with Hamas in power.
The pullout, which Olmert says will help Israeli security, falls short of Palestinian claims to all of the West Bank.
Olmert also is showing restraint because he is forming a new coalition government, said Efraim Inbar, an analyst at Bar Ilan University. Olmert’s Kadima Party, which won elections last month, is courting the dovish Labour Party as it seeks to build a parliamentary majority.
“He wants a coalition with the Labour Party and it won’t help him” to escalate the situation, Inbar said.
In an initial response, Israeli aircraft attacked an empty metal workshop in Gaza City this morning, causing no injuries. The army said the workshop was used by militants to build home-made rockets.
Olmert and key Cabinet ministers also decided to revoke the Israeli residency rights of three Hamas lawmakers who live in Jerusalem, participants in the meeting said.
Yesterday’s bombing was the first inside Israel since Hamas’ government was sworn into office late last month.
Hamas, which has carried out scores of suicide bombings since the early 1990s, has largely observed a truce since last year. But officials have said they would not try to stop members of other groups from carrying out attacks.
Atef Adwan, a Hamas Cabinet minister, on Tuesday dismissed Israel’s claim that the Palestinian Authority is ultimately responsible for the attack. “Israel is trying to find a pretext to act against the Palestinian institutions and act against the Palestinian people,” he said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate from the rival Fatah Party, condemned the bombing and said it harmed the Palestinians’ national interest. Abbas hopes to restart peace talks.
The bomber struck during lunch hour at a Tel Aviv restaurant. The restaurant, which had been the target of a January bombing, was packed with Israelis on holiday during the week-long Passover holiday.
The attack was the deadliest since a bombing in the southern city of Beersheba August 31, 2004, killed 16 people.
It was the second major Passover bombing in four years. An 2002 attack at a hotel in the coastal town of Netanya killed 29 people and triggered a major Israeli military offensive.
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