The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that there was evidence indicating that the killing of an Israeli diamond dealer in Amman had political motives.
Yitzhak Snir, 51, a diamond dealer, was shot Monday night in the heart of Amman. Two Jordanian groups claimed responsibility for the attack.
Jordanian police ruled out the possibility that Snir was murdered because he was Israeli, but Israeli Foreign Ministry Deputy Director General Yoav Biran said there was evidence indicating that the motive was political, according to Haaretz newspaper.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Yaffa Ben Ari, said the man was not a diplomat. She also said that Jordanian officials were investigating the incident.
Meanwhile, the paper said that head of the Israeli forensic department, Professor Yehuda Hiss, left for Jordan on Wednesday to conduct a post-mortem on Snir.
Snir's widow gave her consent Tuesday for the examination, on the condition that it be conducted by an Israeli forensic expert, the paper added.
Israel's ambassador to Amman, David Dadon, recommended Tuesday that Israelis avoid visiting Jordan, with whom Israel has had diplomatic ties and a peace agreement since 1994.
Speaking in an interview on Israel Radio on Wednesday, Dadon said that it was hard to advise Israeli businessmen to abandon their investments in Jordan, but said that those who had to visit Jordan did so in coordination with the Israeli embassy in Amman.
Dadon added that embassy personnel were under tight security protection due to the situation, and reiterated Israel's earlier denial that Snir had any connection to the security services.
One the groups that claimed responsibility for Snir’s killing, the previously unknown "Nobles of Jordan," said the man was an agent of Israel's secret service, Mossad.
The claim was broadcast by Al Manar satellite channel, the network of the Lebanese group, Hizbollah. The network said it had received the claim by email overnight.
Jordanian Information Minister Saleh Qallab said earlier Tuesday that Yitzhak Snir was an Israeli diamond merchant and that his death appeared to be the work of an Israeli gang settling scores.
However, a statement by a militant Islamist group said its members had killed the victim, who was doing business in the kingdom and had Jordanian partners.
The Islamist Mujahideen Movement – Ahmad Dagamseh Group was the other group claiming responsibility for the attack, according to Al Jazeera.
Dagamseh, a Jordanian, was sentenced to life in prison after killing seven Israeli teenage women while a soldier in 1996.
The same group claimed responsibility for an attack on an Israeli diplomat in December.
On December 5 last year, Shlomo Ratzbi, an employee of the Israeli embassy in Jordan, was shot and lightly wounded in Amman by unidentified gunmen who attacked a car in which he was traveling.
In November last year, the vice consul of the embassy, Yoram Havivian, was lightly wounded in Amman by gunmen – Albawaba.com
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