Netanyahu was going to London hotel near blast
Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been on his way to a London hotel near the scene of one of the four blasts that ripped through the city today, said Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.
Netanyahu was the scheduled keynote speaker at an Israeli corporate investment conference at the Great Eastern hotel near the Liverpool Street subway station.
“After the first explosion, our finance minister received a request not to go anywhere,” Finance Minister Silvan Shalom told Israel Army Radio.
Netanyahu had been scheduled to stay in London until Sunday, but that could change, said Amir Gilad, a Netanyahu aide.
Conference participants were evacuated from the hotel. Shalom said he wasn’t aware of any Israeli casualties.
Shalom speculated that attackers might have taken advantage of the fact police resources were diverted to a meeting of Western leaders.
The Israeli ambassador to London, Zvi Hefetz, said British police had called to tell embassy personnel to stay inside their offices. “There is fear that this wave of violence has not yet ended,” Hefetz said.
