Israeli criminals suspected for blast that kills two

At least two people were killed by a bomb blast in a money changer’s shop in the crowded business district of the Israel city of Tel Aviv today.

Police believe it was an attack on one of the country’s underworld figures rather than a terrorist act.

A dozen people were injured by the lunchtime blast.

The attack shook a nation already on edge over daily warnings about planned suicide bombings by Palestinian militants.

The blast went off as a suspected criminal boss, Zeev Rosenstein, entered the money changer’s shop, witnesses said. Rosenstein’s lawyer also confirmed his client was present at the scene, and was wounded.

Rosenstein was recently released from police interrogation. He had been taken into custody after a hit man reportedly claimed Rosenstein had ordered attacks on some of his rivals.

Police later said Rosenstein’s accuser was lying and released Rosenstein.

“We’re treating it less as a terrorist attack and more as a criminal attack,” said Israeli police spokesman Gil Kleiman. “It means that instead of looking for Palestinians, we’ll be looking for Israelis.”

The attack on the shop named Change occurred about 12:30 p.m. (10.30am Irish time) in the packed business district of the port city.

Cars on both sides of the road were damaged.

“I was next to it, the whole window blew out,” an eye witness said.

The explosion, if criminal, would be one of the deadliest of its kind in the country’s history.

The last suicide bombing by Palestinian militants went off on October 4 in a restaurant in the northern Israeli city of Haifa and killed 21 people.

The scene resembled the aftermath of a powerful suicide bombing. Doors were blown off the shop.

A tangle of wires and pipes were ripped from its ceiling. An apartment balcony on the floor above the shop collapsed, leaving just a narrow strip of concrete still holding up a rack of drying laundry.

Amid the rubble of the gutted shop, a poster of large dollar bills still hung on a wall next to a wooden counter.

Among crowds gathered at the site of the blast, some people said they were relieved to learn the bomb appeared to have been a criminal hit, not a terrorist attack. Some stood around laughing and chatting.

An elderly woman called out from an apartment window to a friend below, “It’s just criminal.”

Israel Radio reported that this was the sixth attempt on Rosenstein’s life in recent years.