Three hurt, two seriously, in gangland Tel Aviv-area bombing
Injured include senior figure in Amir Mulner crime organization; blast near Tel Aviv Stock Exchange rocks Ramat Gan
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
Three people were injured, two of them seriously, when a car exploded and burst into flames in a Tel Aviv suburb Tuesday in a suspected underworld hit attempt.
Two passersby were also lightly hurt in the blast, which rocked roads near the adjacent Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
The injured included Ben Cohen, a senior figure in the crime organization headed by Amir Mulner, as well as his personal security guard.
The blast was probably caused by an explosive device fixed to the off-road Volvo in which Ben Cohen was traveling, the Ynet news site said. The explosion ripped a leg off one of the casualties, while a second victim lay moaning in pain, Both men were in their 40s.
Dr. Pinchas Halpern, head of the emergency ward at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital, confirmed in a statement that three people with injuries had arrived there, two in serious condition and a third moderately hurt, and were being treated in the trauma room.
Yehuda Hildesheim, a volunteer with the Hatzalah emergency response organization, said that when he arrived at the scene, he found two people with serious injuries and burns resulting from the force of the explosion in the car. They were administered preliminary treatment before they were taken to Ichilov.
He added that a man and a woman who happened to be passing by at the time of the blast were treated for light injuries.
Effi Levev, deputy director of the Tel Aviv District Magen David Adom ambulance service, and senior ambulance paramedic Danny Ben Aroush, said two men were lying seriously hurt outside of the car when they arrived, one of them unconscious, and nearby was a third man, aged around 30, who suffered injuries from the force of the explosion.
Last April, Itzik, one of Cohen’s uncles, was hurt in a car explosion in nearby Givataim, Ynet said, adding that Ben Cohen has a long criminal history. In 2013, he was arrested together with two friends on suspicion of tax evasion to the tune of NIS 300 million ($76 million).
In 2009, he was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the throwing of hand grenades at a Tel Aviv Subaru car agency, apparently in a bid to squeeze protection money from the owners.
Israel has seen a rash of underworld bombings and shootings in recent years. Crime organizations have stepped up jockeying in an escalating turf war since several top bosses were arrested in a far-reaching investigation dubbed Case 512.
