Israeli teenager arrested over bomb threats to Jewish community centres

The teen allegedly made threats via a telephone connected to his computer

After a long search, a teenager who is also a dual US-Israeli citizen was arrested on Thursday for making bomb threats targeting Jewish community centres worldwide.

The police and FBI investigation led to the arrest of a 19-year-old Israeli suspected of making the threats, said an Israel police official on Twitter.

Police & FBI investigation arrest Israeli age 19 suspected of making threats to Jewish organizations, communities & JCC bomb threats in US.

— Micky Rosenfeld (@MickyRosenfeld) March 23, 2017

The suspect, who was not yet identified but lives in Ashkelon, on Israel’s coast, has lived in the country for many years.

Haaretz confirmed that the teen was arrested by Israel’s cyber-attack unit. The news site posted an audio of one of the telephone threats, in which the caller threatened that “a large number of Jews are going to be slaughtered.”

“It’s a C-4 bomb with a lot of shrapnel, surrounded by a bag (inaudible). In a short time, a large number of Jews are going to be slaughtered,” the caller says. “Their heads are going to [sic] blown off from the shrapnel. There’s a lot of shrapnel. There’s going to be a bloodbath that’s going to take place in a short time. I think I told you enough. I must go.”

The police also said to have confiscated computers and other items that allowed the teenager to carry out the threats without being easily detected.



They have also seized antennas that he used to access other people’s networks and secretly commit the crimes.

The teen allegedly made the threats via a telephone connected to his computer and used advanced technology to conceal his online identity.

Israeli officials launched a probe after the suspect allegedly called in a threat to a New Zealand facility about six months ago. Police in New Zealand traced the IP address to Israel, said the Jerusalem Post.

The suspect also targeted places in the United States, Europe and Australia and is believed to have called in a bomb threat to Delta Airlines, causing the airline to ground its flights.

This article originally appeared on New York Post.