Jerusalem, Mar 23 (AP) Israeli police today arrested a 19-year-old Israeli Jewish man as the primary suspect in a string of bomb threats targeting Jewish community centers and other institutions in the U.S, marking a potential breakthrough in the case after an international manhunt with the FBI.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld described the suspect as a hacker, but said his motives were still unclear.
Police banned publication of his name, but said he was an American-Israeli dual citizen and that he would remain in custody until at least March 30.
“He’s the guy who was behind the JCC threats,” Rosenfeld said, referring to the dozens of anonymous threats phoned in to Jewish community centers in the U.S. over the past two months.
Israel’s Channel 10 TV showed footage of the suspect appearing in court in the central Israeli city of Rishon Letzion. He wore khaki pants and a blue sweater that he used to cover his face as he walked past reporters.
The channel said the young man had lived in the U.S. for a period of time and had been home-schooled. It showed images of a large antenna outside his house and said his father was also arrested.
At the courthouse, the suspect’s lawyer, Galit Bash, told reporters that her client had a “very serious medical condition” that had kept him out of compulsory military service and might have affected his behavior.
He “didn’t serve in the army, didn’t go to high school, didn’t go to elementary school,” she said. “So that’s why the medical condition can actually affect the investigation.” Channel 10 described the condition as a brain tumor.
In Washington, the FBI confirmed the arrest of the main suspect.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the arrest was the result of a large investigation into hate crimes against the Jewish community.
He said the Justice Department “will not tolerate the targeting of any community in the country on the basis of their religious beliefs.” He called work by the FBI and Israeli police “outstanding.”
The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish-American group that battles anti-Semitism, says there have been more than 150 bomb threats against Jewish community centers and day schools in 37 states and two Canadian provinces since January 9.
Those threats led to evacuations of the buildings and raised fears of rising anti-Semitism. The threats were accompanied by acts of vandalism on several Jewish cemeteries.
President Donald Trump’s administration was criticized for not speaking out fast enough.
Last month, the White House denounced the threats and rejected “anti-Semitic and hateful threats in the strongest terms.”
Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the ADL, expressed relief over the arrest and thanked the FBI and U.S.
authorities for making the investigation a priority. (AP) VAG
This is published unedited from the PTI feed.
