Israeli investigators have concluded that a Tel Aviv judge shot dead today was not killed by Palestinian militants who claimed responsibility.
"What we are quite sure of already is that this does not have a background of terrorism, and that the boasting of this terrorist organisation has no basis. This is not true, that is for sure," Justice Minister Yosef Lapid told Israel Radio.
Mr Azi Adar (49), was found shot dead in his car in the driveway of his home in an affluent Tel Aviv suburb.
A militant group in Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah swiftly claimed responsibility in a phone call to Reuters in the West Bank.
The caller said Mr Azar was shot for suggesting that the Palestinian Authority be fined for suicide bomb attacks on Israelis, and also in revenge for the slaying of a senior Hizbollah guerrilla in a Beirut bombing earlier today.
Hizbullah's al Manar television identified the man killed by the bomb as Ghalib Awali, describing him as "part of the leadership of the Islamic Resistance", a reference to Hizbullah.
Mr Lapid dismissed the claim by the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
"The question now is whether this was for personal reasons, for criminal reasons alone or for criminal reasons connected to his work as a judge," he said.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office released a statement expressing his "deep shock and pain" at what Israeli media said was the first killing of a judge in the country's history.