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A man stabbed a security guard on Tuesday at the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv and was apprehended by police, a police spokesman said.

The spokesman said the guard opened fire during the attack. Israel Radio said the attacker was wounded. He was armed with a knife and an axe, police said.

Israel Radio said the assailant was a 41-year-old Israeli Jew with a criminal record.

Security guards at the embassy in Tel Aviv fired shots at the man who attacked them, an Israeli police spokeswoman said.

"A suspect came to the U.S. embassy at 11:00 a.m. (0900 GMT) with a knife and an axe and attacked a security guard," spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP news agency, saying the guard was injured in the leg, prompting his colleagues to open fire.

"Other security guards fired shots at him," she said.

"The attacker was not hurt," Samri said, adding that the assailant, who had been arrested, was "not an Arab."

She did not give further details on his identity but said he was from the town of Bat Yam, just south of Tel Aviv.

Police said the incident occurred at the entrance to the embassy which is located on Yarkon Street, a block from the sea front.

The motive for the attack, which occurred outside the beachfront embassy, was not immediately known.

"A Mazda car stopped next to the U.S. embassy and a man got out carrying a red bag and a pitchfork," said David Cohen, 48, who told Reuters he witnessed the incident while jogging along Tel Aviv's Mediterranean promenade.

"He began to run toward the security guards. They saw him, took their guns out and told him to get down on the ground," Cohen said.

"He continued running and then they fired in the air and ordered him agains to lie down. He continued to advance. They jumped on him and took his bag away."

The police spokesman said the attacker was taken into custody.