Netanyahu: "No Information" Turkey Attack Targeted Israelis

Jerusalem, 19 March, 2016 (TPS) -- Jerusalem (TPS) – Israel has “no information” that the terrorist attack in Istanbul on Saturday, March 19 targeted its citizens even if the blast left at least three Israelis dead and eleven wounded, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday night, March 19.

In the attack, a suicide bomber struck a main street in central Istanbul. At least four died in the blast, including the three Israelis, with 36 injured.

In a wide-ranging statement from the Foreign Ministry’s situation room, Prime Minister Netanyahu said there is “information that this was an attack by an ISIS man, but this is initial information.” Netanyahu added that the Israeli government is maintaining contacts with counterparts in Turkey in the wake of the attack but that he had not spoken with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Earlier in the day, Irem Aktas, an official from Turkey’s ruling AK Party, wrote on Twitter that she “wished the Israelis” injured in the attack were dead. Netanyahu said the tweet had been removed, as he had demanded. He further said that authorities should “take steps against” the tweet’s author. Turkish media have reportedly said Aktas has been fired.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu sent his condolences to Prime Minister Netanyahu late Saturday night, March 19, addressed both to “the families of the Israeli citizens who lost their lives in the heinous attack which happened in Istanbul and to the people in Israel.” Davutoglu wished “a speedy recovery to the wounded.”

More broadly, the attack would have neither a positive nor a negative impact on ongoing reconciliation talks between Israel and Turkey, Netanyahu said in his statement. Those talks were stalled “not due to idle delays but because of substantive issues on which we are trying to reach an understanding.”

Benny Biton, mayor of the southern Israeli town of Dimona, expressed his sadness at the death of Simha Damri, 60, a Dimona resident and victim of the attack. The Damri family was “rooted in Dimona, recognized and well-known for contributing to the needy and assisting institutions anonymously,” Biton said.

President Reuven Rivlin also issued a statement expressing his condolences.