(JNS.org) A suicide bomber with fake U.S. identification exploded a bus full of Israeli tourists in the Bulgarian city of Burgas on Wednesday, killing five Israelis and injuring 30, according to reports.
The explosives were placed in the back of the bus, said Burgas Mayor Dimitar Nikolov, and witness Gal Malka said that she saw someone board the bus right before the explosion. According to the Jerusalem Post, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov is collaborating with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, promising to keep the Israeli minister informed of any developments in the investigation of the incident.
Israel is blaming the Iran-funded terrorist group Hezbollah for the bombing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “all signs point towards Iran.”
“Over the last few months we have seen Iran’s attempts to attack Israelis in Thailand, India, Georgia, Kenya, Cyprus and other countries,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “Exactly 18 years to the day after the horrendous attack on the Jewish Community Center in Argentina, deadly Iranian terrorism continues to strike at innocent people. This is a global Iranian terror onslaught and Israel will react firmly to it.”
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organization said in a statement that countries providing financial support for terrorism “must also bear the responsibility and the consequences.”
Kathy Manning, chair of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) board of trustees, said the umbrella organization stands “shoulder to shoulder with all of the Jewish People in condemning this horrific act of violence.”
“This barbaric attack against Israeli tourists—many of them reportedly teenagers—is in essence an attack against Jews everywhere,” Jewish Council for Public Affairs President Rabbi Steve Gutow said in a statement. “Those responsible for this terrorism seek to deprive Jews around the globe of their sense of safety.”