Survivors of the terror
attack on the Israeli
tour bus in Burgas,
Bulgaria, returning to
Israel with the help of
the Israeli Air Force,
July 19.
ment's emergency response quickly took
care of the Israeli casualties of the attack
and evacuated them to safety, JDC is
focusing on future well-being of the local
Bulgarian Jewish community, in concert
with the local leadership:' JDC said in a
statement.
Besides MDA, initial contributors to the
relief efforts in Bulgaria included Tel Aviv
Sourasky Medical Center Director-General
Gabriel Barbash, Israeli security personnel
and the ZAKA emergency response team.
Terrorists Strike
After deadly attack and swift rescue,
Bulgaria investigation persists.
Alina Dain Sharon
and Jacob Kamaras
JNS.org
Jerusalem
T
he identity of a suicide bomber
with a fake U.S. passport who
exploded a bus full of Israeli tour-
ists in the Bulgarian city of Burgas July 18
— killing five Israelis and injuring more
than 30—has yet to be confirmed.
The Israeli victims — Itzik Colangi, 28,
Amir Menashe, 28, Maor Harosh, 25, Elior
Price, 26, and Kochava Shriki, 44 — were
buried in Israel July 20.
U.S. officials say the suicide bomber was
a member of the Iran-funded Hezbollah
terrorist organization, the New York Times
reported, corresponding with initial state-
ments about the perpetrator by Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Bulgarian security forces, Israeli intel-
ligence officers and CIA agents are also
on the hunt for an accomplice suspected
of helping the bomber. On Saturday,
Bulgarian police distributed a police com-
posite sketch of the suspect to hotels in
Burgas and in the surrounding area, Israel
Hayom reported. The authorities suspect
that the accomplice has ties to Hezbollah.
Immediately after the attack, rescue
organizations flocked to Bulgaria in order
to bring the injured Israelis back home.
"Our goal was to bring the injured back
home as quickly as possible. And we did
everything we could from the moment we
34 July 26 2012
were notified of the event to achieve this:'
Eli Bin, the director-general of Magen
David Adom (MDA), Israel's affiliate to the
International Red Cross, said in a phone
interview with JNS.org.
In coordination with the Israel Defense
Forces and the Israeli foreign and health
ministries, MDA "enlisted paramedics and
doctors, and immediately brought them to
Bulgaria."
The bomber's 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.
Bin told JNS.org that MDA was able to
contact the Bulgarian Red Cross for the
permission to operate in Bulgaria and
treat the injured.
"When we got to the location:' Bin said,
"there were tens of Israelis in the airport
terminal, many of whom were terrified.
We did everything we could to calm them.
We spoke to them and met people who
needed to be medicated. Shortly afterward
we went to the hospital in Burgas, where
about 34 injured people were hospitalized
in various conditions."
Some of the hospitalized victims suf-
fered limb injuries such as fractures,
injuries from glass particles that flew
when the bus windows were shattered,
and wounds from other explosion materi-
als, Bin said. "We recognized that many
of the Israelis there suffered from shock,
and these are injuries that may not look
serious at first, but become more serious
later," he said.
In addition to the six Israelis who were
killed, the Bulgarian bus driver and the
suicide bomber died in the attack. The
Jewish Agency for Israel's (JAFI) Fund for
the Victims of Terror will provide financial
assistance to the wounded Israelis and
the families of those killed, the Jewish
Federations of North America (JFNA)
— which contributes to that fund —
announced Thursday.
Barry Spielman, JAFI's director of com-
munications for North America, told JNS.
org that the organization's fund for ter-
ror victims provides assistance "beyond
what [victims are] going to get from the
[Israeli] government." This includes fund-
ing for medical equipment, furniture and
rent, as well as "mental support" entailing
visits by fund representatives to the homes
of mourners and the hospitals where
injured victims are staying.
The fund was most recently used to
aid victims of Palestinian Qassam rocket
attacks. Since its start in 2002, the fund has
disbursed more than 100 million shekels to
victims of terror and their families.
"Unfortunately, there's a lot of occasions
during which [the fund] has to be used:'
Spielman said.
The American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee (JDC) said its Bulgaria staff "is
working closely with the Bulgarian Jewish
community, assessing the steps to be
taken in the wake of this tragic event."
"As the Bulgarian and Israeli govern-
Hezbollah _Blamed
Israel immediately blamed Hezbollah for
the bombing.
"This attack was part of a global cam-
paign of terror carried out by Iran and
Hezbollah," Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said in a statement.
"This terror campaign has reached a
dozen countries on five continents. The
world's leading powers should make it
clear that Iran is the country that stands
behind this terror campaign. Iran must
be exposed by the international commu-
nity as the premier terrorist-supporting
state that it is. And everything should be
done to prevent Iran, the world's most
dangerous regime, from developing the
world's most dangerous weapons."
The Conference of Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organization said in a
statement that countries providing finan-
cial support for terrorism "must also bear
the responsibility and the consequences."
"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. "Those responsible for this
terrorism seek to deprive Jews around
the globe of their sense of safety."
Hadassah noted in its statement that the
day of the Burgas attack marked the 18th
anniversary of the terrorist bombing of
the AMIA Buenos Aires Jewish community
center in Argentina — an attack for
which Hezbollah was also a suspected
perpetrator. Hadassah expressed its
"deepest condolences to those in Israel,
Bulgaria and elsewhere who have been
affected by the terrorist attack in Bulgaria."
New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg, who met with Israeli
Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren the
morning of July 19, said the New York
Police Department "certainly monitors
what goes on in the world" and is always
changing its strategy, but added that
the city "won't see anything different"
following the Bulgaria bombing.
See related news analysis on page 68.