Couple arrested for transporting suicide bomber

JERUSALEM -- A Palestinian and his Israeli wife drove a Palestinian suicide bomber to an Israeli city last week, where he blew himself up, killing two Israelis and injuring 51, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said Thursday.

It was the first reported instance of an Israeli Jew knowingly helping Palestinians carry out a suicide attack.

On the same trip, they took along a Palestinian woman, Arin Ahmed, 20. She was to have blown herself up as Israeli ambulance crews arrived at the scene of the bombing in Rishon Letzion moments earlier. That blast was carried out by Issa Badir, 16, from Bet Jall, a village near Bethlehem, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said.

However, Ahmed changed her mind, and the couple drove her back to the West Bank, the statement said.

The driver was identified as Ibrahim Sarachne, 33, from the Dheisheh refugee camp next to Bethlehem, and his wife was Russian-born Medina Pinsky, 26, who immigrated to Israel 11 years ago.

There have been dozens of suicide bombings during the current conflict, which began in September 2000.