There may not have been political motives (narrowly defined), but there will certainly be political consequences. Reports Haartez:

Ezra: Arab MKs seek electoral gain out of Nazareth attack

Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra on Friday accused Israeli Arab MKs of trying to make electoral gain out of an attack by a Jewish man who detonated fireworks inside a major Christian church in the northern city of Nazareth on Friday evening.

Speaking at a press conference, Ezra said that the Arab MKS were trying "to exploit for electoral purposes" the incident.

Haim Eliyahu Havivi and his Christian wife and daughter detonated fireworks inside the Basilica of the Annunciation triggering riots that led to the wounding of five police officers. Havivi, 44, of Jerusalem, had been questioned by police in the past after he expressed intentions to attack churches in Israel.

Israeli Arab Knesset members responded angrily to the Friday evening attack. "Such an act is proof of the fact that radical right-wing and settler terror groups feel they are free to perform their crimes, both in the territories and in Israel, against the Arab population," said Hadash Chairman MK Mohammed Barakeh.

Balad Chairman MK Azmi Bishara condemned the attack and said the motivation appeared to have been religious or nationalistic. He called on police not to relate to the angry crowd as a hostile element.

Arab MKs also complained that Havivi had not been arrested in the past.

Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi said that Havivi was known to police and was suspected of wanting to carry out such an attack.

Ezra also said the attack had international implications and it should therefore be made clear that the incident was carried out due to personal distress of people who probably did not grasp the meaning of their actions.

Karadi said, however, that police was not responsible for limiting a suspect's movement, but the judicial system.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called her counterpart in the Vatican, Monsignor Lajolo, and told him Israel is making every effort to handle the events at the Basilica of the Annunciation.

"We will do our all to protect the holy sites of all faiths," Livni said.

Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz condemned the attack: "Any attempt to damage holy sites destroys the delicate relations between different faiths in Israel," he said.

Church officials: Suspect 'born, bred on racist views'
Latin Archbishop Michel Sabah, the most senior Catholic figure in Israel, said the Vatican was following closely the events in Nazareth. Sabah said that the person who tried to perform the terrible deed was born and bred on racist views and wild incitement against Christians in particular and Arabs in general.

In a radio broadcast Sabah called on the angry crowd around the church to leave the area once they had expressed their protest.

Advisor to the Latin Archbishop, Wadiya Abu Nasser, told Haaretz a full report of the incident was passed on to the Vatican and directly to the pope's office. Abu Nasser reported Vatican sources described the incident as very serious.

Bishop Eliyas Shakur said "this is an evil attack on one of the holiest sites for Christianity, not just in Israel but in the entire world. I call on the country's leaders to act immediately in order to obstruct and arrest those who try to damage holy sites of both Christian and Muslim faiths."

"We ask the Israeli government if it is still willing and capable of taking care of its citizens and minorities or do its citizens need to look after themselves," he said.