| 1994 London Israeli Embassy bombing | |
|---|---|
 Israeli embassy in London | |
 The attack site | |
| Location | London, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°30′10.44″N 0°11′20.76″W / 51.5029°N 0.1891°W |
| Date | 26 July 1994 |
| Target |
Israeli embassy Balfour House |
Attack type | car bomb |
Non-fatal injuries | 20 |
| Motive | Palestinian nationalism |
The 1994 London Israeli Embassy bombing was a car bomb attack on 26 July 1994 against the Israeli embassy building in London. Twenty civilians were injured. A second bomb was exploded outside Balfour House, Finchley, premises occupied by the Jewish Philanthropic Institution for Israel.[1]
The attack[]
A car packed with 20 to 30 pounds of explosives parked in front of the embassy blew up minutes after the driver left it. The blast, which caused widespread damage, was heard over a mile away. Apart from damage to the embassy building, shop windows were blown out. The attack took place one day after King Hussein of Jordan and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin met in Washington to discuss a Jordan-Israel peace treaty.[2]
Thirteen hours later another car bomb exploded outside Balfour House, which at the time was the London headquarters of one of the largest Jewish charities, The United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA), injuring six.[1][3]
Aftermath[]
Initially, the Israeli ambassador and British intelligence experts were blaming "pro-Iranian extremists, probably linked to the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group."[2] A group calling themselves the Palestinian Resistance Jaffa Group claimed responsibility for both bombs.[1]
Five Palestinians were arrested in London in January 1995 in connection with the bombings. In December 1996, two of them, both Palestinian science graduates educated in the UK, Jawad Botmeh and Samar Alami, were found guilty of "conspiracy to cause explosions" at the Old Bailey. They were sentenced to 20 years in jail, and lost their appeal in 2001.[4]
Botmeh was released from prison in 2008.[5]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Yonah Alexander, Edgar H. Brenner (2013). Document No 24, in UK's Legal Responses to Terrorism, Routledge, p. 693
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Israel's London embassy bombed". BBC. 26 July 1994. https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/26/newsid_2499000/2499619.stm.
- ↑ "Bombing in London Hits Israeli Embassy". The New York Times. 27 July 1994. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/27/world/bombing-in-london-hits-israeli-embassy.html.
- ↑ "Tally Ho Bombers Lose Court Appeal". 1 November 2001. http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/15117.tally_ho_bombers_lose_court_appeal/.
- ↑ "London Metropolitan University suspends researcher with car bomb conviction". BBC. 22 February 2013. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-21545445.
External links[]
- Riddle of man behind Israeli embassy bomb (by Robert Fisk), The Independent, 26 November 1998
- New evidence suggests activists were framed, The Daily Star, 24 March 1999
- Caught in the blast, The Guardian, 21 October 2000
The original article can be found at 1994 London Israeli Embassy bombing and the edit history here.