Will this turn out to be the right person? Was the media wrong to blame the 2016 election rhetoric for the attacks? Will the attacks now end? http://abcnews.go.com/US/suspect-arrested-israel-connection-bomb-threats-us-jewish/story?id=46323084 Jewish Israeli-American man arrested in connection to bomb threats against Jewish centers By EMILY SHAPIRO MIKE LEVINE JOSH MARGOLIN Mar 23, 2017, 11:58 AM ET PHOTO: People evacuated because of a bomb threat return to the David Posnack Jewish Community Center and David Posnack Jewish Day School, Feb. 27, 2017, in Davie, Fla. Wilfredo Lee/AP Photo WATCHIsraeli-American arrested over threats to Jewish centers A Jewish man who is a dual Israeli-American citizen has been arrested in Israel in connection with a series of bomb threats made against Jewish community centers and Jewish schools in the United States and other countries, sources told ABC News. Police believe the man, 19, carried out fake bomb threats in New Zealand, Australia and against scores of Jewish institutions across the U.S. PHOTO: Brighton Police Chief Mark Henderson said there was no bomb found and investigation into the threat continues at the Louis S. Wolk Jewish Community Center, March 7, 2017, in Rochester, N.Y.Tina Macintyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle/USA TODAY Brighton Police Chief Mark Henderson said there was no bomb found and investigation into the threat continues at the Louis S. Wolk Jewish Community Center, March 7, 2017, in Rochester, N.Y.more + He also allegedly called in fake bomb threats to two Delta flights at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport in 2015, according to Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. The threats grounded the flights while passengers were evacuated and luggage was re-screened. The suspect was arrested early this morning in his family's home in the southern city of Ashkelon after a months-long investigation that included the FBI and European law enforcement agencies, Rosenfeld said. Israeli police confiscated several computers, antennas, satellite equipment and other advanced technology. Some of the equipment was allegedly used to "camouflage" the suspect's voice for automated calls, Rosenfeld said. The suspect also allegedly had equipment that allowed him to use many different IP addresses, making it hard to trace him, Rosenfeld added. PHOTO: A police officer blocks an entrance as officials respond to a bomb threat at the Jewish Community Center in Louisville, Ky., March 8, 2017. Bryan Woolston/Reuters A police officer blocks an entrance as officials respond to a bomb threat at the Jewish Community Center in Louisville, Ky., March 8, 2017. more + According to an official briefed on the investigation, the suspect had been deemed insufficiently mentally stable to be drafted into the Israeli Army. The suspect's attorney, Galit Bash, told ABC News in a statement, "This is a young man without a criminal record who suffers from serious medical problems from a young age. There is a concern that his medical condition affects his cognitive functions. In light of this, we asked the court to order the young man to undergo a medical examination. The court accepted our arguments and ordered the police to examine the young man's medical condition." The suspect appeared in an Israeli court today and the judge ruled that his identity would not be released until his next court appearance on March 30. Police have not commented on the suspect's motives. It is unclear if the suspect will be tried in Israel or the U.S., police said. Man accused of making threats against Jewish community centers arrested in St. Louis As communities cope with recent anti-Semitic attacks, Jewish officials urge action More than 60 threats to Jewish centers across the US, authorities investigating Doron Krakow, president and CEO of the JCC Association of North America, said the organization is "troubled to learn that the individual suspected of making these threats against Jewish Community Centers, which play a central role in the Jewish community, as well as serve as inclusive and welcoming places for all – is reportedly Jewish." He continued, “Emblematic of the strength of JCCs and the important model they represent for acceptance, inclusion, and appreciation for diversity is the remarkable support we have received from communities and community leaders across North America, including civic, political and faith community leaders. Throughout this long running period of concern and disruption that we are hopeful has come to an end, JCCs have had the opportunity to review and assess our security protocols and procedures, and we are confident that JCCs are safer today than ever before. PHOTO: Rabbis with the local community share water with first responders as local and federal officers respond to the bomb threat at the Jewish Community Center in Louisville, Ky., March 8, 2017. Bryan Woolston/Reuters Rabbis with the local community share water with first responders as local and federal officers respond to the bomb threat at the Jewish Community Center in Louisville, Ky., March 8, 2017. more + Gilad Erdan, Israel's minister of public security, said in a statement following reports of the arrest, "I congratulate the Israeli Police on leading a complex international investigation, together with law enforcement agencies from around the world, which led to the arrest of the suspect. We hope that this investigation will help shed light on some of the recent threats against Jewish institutions, which have caused great concern both among Jewish communities and the Israeli government." The FBI said in a statement, "Investigating hate crimes is a top priority for the FBI and we will continue to work to make sure all races and religions feel safe in their communities and in their places of worship." U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the arrest "the culmination of a large-scale investigation spanning multiple continents for hate crimes against Jewish communities across our country." "The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the civil rights of all Americans, and we will not tolerate the targeting of any community in this country on the basis of their religious beliefs," Sessions said in a statement. "I commend the FBI and Israeli National Police for their outstanding work on this case.” Across the U.S. this year there have been five waves of bomb threats at JCCs and Jewish schools. The JCC Association of North America reported 100 incidents this year alone. No bombs were found at any of the locations. The FBI and Justice Department's civil rights division were investigating the incidents. PHOTO: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department K-9 officers search the Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada after an employee received a suspicious phone call that led people to evacuate the building, Feb. 27, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ethan Miller/Getty Images Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department K-9 officers search the Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada after an employee received a suspicious phone call that led people to evacuate the building, Feb. 27, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada. more + While the threats were false, Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, told ABC News earlier this month that the threats created "terror" for the people evacuated from the facilities — including preschool children, the elderly and teenagers — as well as their family members. In a statement today Greenblatt said called the crimes "acts of anti-Semitism." "These threats targeted Jewish institutions, were calculated to sow fear and anxiety, and put the entire Jewish community on high alert," Greenblatt said. "Even though it appears that the main culprit behind the majority of these attacks has allegedly been identified, anti-Semitism in the U.S. remains a very serious concern. No arrests have been made in three cemetery desecrations or a series of other anti-Semitic incidents involving swastika graffiti and hate fliers. JCCs and other institutions should not relax security measures or become less vigilant." PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the entrance to the David Posnack Jewish Community Center and David Posnack Jewish Day School after people were evacuated because of a bomb threat, Feb. 27, 2017, in Davie, Fla.Wilfredo Lee/AP Photo A security guard stands outside the entrance to the David Posnack Jewish Community Center and David Posnack Jewish Day School after people were evacuated because of a bomb threat, Feb. 27, 2017, in Davie, Fla.more + A former journalist arrested in the U.S. earlier this month was accused of making at least eight threats against JCCs, Jewish schools, a Jewish museum and the Anti-Defamation League. The man was not believed to have been the main suspect behind this year's rash of bomb threats. Law enforcement officials told ABC News the man appeared to take advantage of news coverage of the threats in order to exact revenge on a woman who had ended a romantic relationship. ABC News' Benjamin Gittleson, Jordana Miller and Jack Date contributed to this report. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...can-israeli-jew-behind-most-jcc-bomb-threats/ 19-year-old American-Israeli Jew arrested in JCC bomb threats By David Bernstein March 23 at 9:10 AM An earlier version of this post misstated the age of the man arrested in the threats to Jewish community centers. This post has been updated. Israeli authorities report that they have arrested an 19-year-old American Jew who moved to Israel in connection with the series of threats to Jewish community centers in the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand that have gotten so much publicity. He is alleged to be responsible for most of the threats. His exact motivation is apparently unknown at this time. I blame President Trump. More seriously, some of us argued against jumping to rash conclusions about the origins, motivations and seriousness in terms of American Jewish security of these threats, and we were met with derision, even allegations of being apologists for anti-Semitism. Even if the threats had been the work of an anti-Semitic alt-righter, one nutter with a phone shouldn’t cause panic, nor should one nutter’s actions be used to extrapolate wild exaggerations about the declining safety of American Jews. But as I noted, various groups and individuals had an incentive to hype the “threat,” and, not incidentally, blame it on Trump. Note also what this does not mean. It does not mean that all reported hate crimes, or all reported anti-Semitic hate crimes, are a hoax. Most of them are not, and the anti-truck bomb barriers in front of my local JCCs and Jewish day schools bear witness to actual threats. It also does not mean, as I’ve seen way too many commenters on the Web assert, that all anti-Semitism in the United States and/or around the world comes either from the left or from Muslims. That is not just false, but egregiously false, and people on the right have no warrant to avert their eyes from the anti-Semitism that does exist on the right. Obviously, it also doesn’t excuse the actual anti-Semitism that has emanated from alt-right circles even if the level and significance of that anti-Semitism have been overblown. Unfortunately, the points above will be lost on many, and the fight against actual anti-Semitism and other forms of racism will likely have been dealt a blow because self-serving groups such as the Anti-Defamation League chose to hype and politicize the threats without any idea of their actual origin. The ADL’s board of directors needs to clean house to regain credibility, starting with anyone who publicly attributed the bomb threats to emboldened white supremacists.
/sigh This article is garbage. I really wished the author wasn't so biased because the topic, the 19 year old kid, isn't even the focus of the story. I started losing interest pretty much right away because of the line that singles out "I blame President Trump" for literally no reason at all and never expands on that idea. The bulk of it reads like anti-Right propaganda and Muslim apologism. Then it wraps up with a subtle hint that "only smart people will agree with my rhetoric" and of course finds a way to label everybody else as "racist". I rate this article 0 out of 10. Piss poor journalism. And of course ...its WaPo.
This 18 year old is a dual citizen and he was making phone calls and threats using his neighbor's wifi. They got the right guy. His attorney says he has a brain tumor.. Would that cause someone to make threats? We even had a bomb threat at the Sidney Marcus center here in Atlanta.
Trump did comment on these bomb threats a few weeks ago.. He said it was probably someone trying to make others "look bad".
Can a tumor cause somebody to make bomb threats? No. Can a tumor cause somebody to have a reduction in the collective neurological elements that make up "morality"? Supposedly yes. But what is really happening here is that we've created a culture where nobody is to blame to anything because ABX XYZ factors. "I have a tumor, its not my fault I methodically threatened people, the tumor made me do it" "I was born into money, its not my fault I got shitfaced drunk, stole a car, robbed a store, drove drunk and killed four people, money made me do it" "I'm a ghetto thugging savage, its not my fault I tried to murder a man for not giving me his air jordans, white people made me do it" "we got caught red handed engaged in a massive effort to manipulate the election, its not our fault because ZE RUSSIANS!" Ok so that last one didn't fit the pattern but you get what I'm saying. Nobody takes accountability for their actions anymore because, as a society, we have created too many caveats that allow them an escape.
Here's more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/24/us-jews-wrestle-with-arrest-jew-in-bomb-threats-case.html US Jews wrestle with arrest of Jew in bomb threats case Published March 24, 2017 Associated Press Facebook Twitter Email Print FILE - In this Thursday March 9, 2017 file photo, two young men who left a nearby synagogue watch police activity outside the Jewish Children's Museum following a bomb threat in Brooklyn borough of New York. Jewish groups who warned of a surge in anti-Semitism had pointed to numerous bomb threats against Jewish community centers as the most dramatic example of the trend. Now authorities say an Israeli Jewish teen is responsible, potentially undermining the community’s fight against bigotry and embarrassing those who blamed a far-right emboldened by President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) FILE - In this Thursday March 9, 2017 file photo, two young men who left a nearby synagogue watch police activity outside the Jewish Children's Museum following a bomb threat in Brooklyn borough of New York. Jewish groups who warned of a surge in anti-Semitism had pointed to numerous bomb threats against Jewish community centers as the most dramatic example of the trend. Now authorities say an Israeli Jewish teen is responsible, potentially undermining the community’s fight against bigotry and embarrassing those who blamed a far-right emboldened by President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) (The Associated Press) Next NEW YORK – Jewish groups had pointed to scores of bomb threats against their communities as the most dramatic example of what they considered a surge in anti-Semitism. Some blamed a far-right emboldened by President Donald Trump. Now, that picture has been complicated by the arrest of an Israeli Jewish hacker who authorities say is responsible for the harassment. Israeli police said the motive behind the threats was unclear. An attorney for the 19-year-old man, who was arrested Thursday, said her client had a "very serious medical condition" that might have affected his behavior. Earlier this month, U.S. law enforcement had arrested a former journalist in St. Louis, Juan Thompson, on charges he threatened Jewish organizations as part of a bizarre campaign to harass his ex-girlfriend. But Israeli police say the Jewish teen is the primary suspect in the more than 150 bomb threats in North America since early January. Previously, Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, which fights anti-Semitism and monitors extremism, had partly blamed Trump for creating an atmosphere that fueled the bomb threats and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, among other recent harassment. "His well-documented reluctance to address rising anti-Semitism helped to create an environment in which extremists felt emboldened," Greenblatt wrote last month. On Feb. 28, in a meeting with state attorneys general, Trump had suggested the phoned-in bomb threats may have been designed to make "others look bad," according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. The remark raised concerns that Trump was downplaying bigotry. That same night, Trump opened his address to Congress with a strong condemnation of the threats and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, which occurred in suburban St. Louis, Philadelphia and elsewhere. In a phone interview Thursday from Washington, where Greenblatt was discussing anti-Semitism with members of Congress, he said, "It's not the identity of the culprit that's the issue," but the outcome of threats themselves, which terrified Jews and disrupted Jewish life. He said anti-Semitism remained a serious concern, pointing to other recent incidents around the country. Swastikas were drawn throughout a New York City subway car with messages such as "Jews belong in the oven." In South Carolina, a white supremacist with felony convictions was charged with plotting an attack on a synagogue that officials said was inspired by the massacre at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. A Seattle synagogue was vandalized with a spray-painted message, "The Holocaust is fake history." Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, a civil rights and social justice group based in New York, said the arrest in Israel doesn't change Trump's record of being slow and insufficiently forceful in condemning anti-Jewish prejudice and bigotry in general. The center had repeatedly pointed to the bomb threats as evidence of "a national emergency of anti-Semitism" and accused Trump of failing to recognize the "real evidence" behind the problem. "Nobody has said that Donald Trump himself has spray-painted swastikas or tipped over gravestones or that he picked up the phone and made bomb threats," Goldstein said. "What we were condemning was the silence. Organizations had to shame Donald Trump into responding." The White House has not commented on Thursday's arrest. Melissa Plotkin, director of community engagement and diversity at the York Jewish Community Center in Pennsylvania, which was the target of a bomb threat last month, said it was "troubling" to find out the suspect was Jewish. "I'm trying to make sense of it and wonder what was going through the mind of the person when they were carrying this out," Plotkin said. The Jewish Federations of North America called the case "heartbreaking." Rabbi Joshua Hammerman of Temple Beth El in Stamford, Connecticut, said the case was an uncomfortable reminder of what he had been through. In 1999, medical waste marked with swastikas was left in his synagogue parking lot. The incident prompted an outpouring of support from religious leaders and others in the community. But then police charged a member of his congregation, an outcome Hammerman described as "somewhat embarrassing" and "difficult." The rabbi expressed concern that the arrest of the Israeli-American teen would fuel denial of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. Goldstein said his office had received emails Thursday claiming all reports of anti-Semitism were "fake news." "I think we should never jump to conclusions as to who did a particular act and allow the process of investigation to play itself out," Hammerman said in a phone interview. "On the other hand, we should be equally vocal in calling out those who seem to condone such activity or at least don't explicitly condemn it." Andrew Rehfield, chief executive of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, said "finding out this guy was Jewish was baffling to us." Rehfield was among local leaders who organized the community's response to the cemetery vandalism last month, which drew donations and offers of help from Christians and Muslims, and political leaders from around the country. Some Jewish institutions in Missouri had also received bomb threats. Rehfield worried that efforts to combat anti-Semitism would be undermined not only by the identity of the bomb threat suspect, but also the partisan prism through which such incidents are viewed. Rehfield had been criticized by opponents of Trump for accompanying Vice President Mike Pence on a visit to the vandalized cemetery. Then on Thursday, Rehfield said a Jewish Trump supporter distributed an email demanding Jewish leaders apologize to the president now that police say a Jew was responsible for the threats. "I think it does speak to the extremism on either side and the lack of charity and the lack of nuance," Rehfield said. "None of us attributed this to Trump. None of us attributed this to (White House chief strategist Steve) Bannon. None of us attributed it to David Duke. I'm not going to apologize for wanting the administration to clearly condemn anti-Semitism." http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/24/us-jews-wrestle-with-arrest-jew-in-bomb-threats-case.html US Jews wrestle with arrest of Jew in bomb threats case Published March 24, 2017 Associated Press Facebook Twitter Email Print FILE - In this Thursday March 9, 2017 file photo, two young men who left a nearby synagogue watch police activity outside the Jewish Children's Museum following a bomb threat in Brooklyn borough of New York. Jewish groups who warned of a surge in anti-Semitism had pointed to numerous bomb threats against Jewish community centers as the most dramatic example of the trend. Now authorities say an Israeli Jewish teen is responsible, potentially undermining the community’s fight against bigotry and embarrassing those who blamed a far-right emboldened by President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) FILE - In this Thursday March 9, 2017 file photo, two young men who left a nearby synagogue watch police activity outside the Jewish Children's Museum following a bomb threat in Brooklyn borough of New York. Jewish groups who warned of a surge in anti-Semitism had pointed to numerous bomb threats against Jewish community centers as the most dramatic example of the trend. Now authorities say an Israeli Jewish teen is responsible, potentially undermining the community’s fight against bigotry and embarrassing those who blamed a far-right emboldened by President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) (The Associated Press) Next NEW YORK – Jewish groups had pointed to scores of bomb threats against their communities as the most dramatic example of what they considered a surge in anti-Semitism. Some blamed a far-right emboldened by President Donald Trump. Now, that picture has been complicated by the arrest of an Israeli Jewish hacker who authorities say is responsible for the harassment. Israeli police said the motive behind the threats was unclear. An attorney for the 19-year-old man, who was arrested Thursday, said her client had a "very serious medical condition" that might have affected his behavior. Earlier this month, U.S. law enforcement had arrested a former journalist in St. Louis, Juan Thompson, on charges he threatened Jewish organizations as part of a bizarre campaign to harass his ex-girlfriend. But Israeli police say the Jewish teen is the primary suspect in the more than 150 bomb threats in North America since early January. Previously, Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, which fights anti-Semitism and monitors extremism, had partly blamed Trump for creating an atmosphere that fueled the bomb threats and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, among other recent harassment. "His well-documented reluctance to address rising anti-Semitism helped to create an environment in which extremists felt emboldened," Greenblatt wrote last month. On Feb. 28, in a meeting with state attorneys general, Trump had suggested the phoned-in bomb threats may have been designed to make "others look bad," according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. The remark raised concerns that Trump was downplaying bigotry. That same night, Trump opened his address to Congress with a strong condemnation of the threats and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, which occurred in suburban St. Louis, Philadelphia and elsewhere. In a phone interview Thursday from Washington, where Greenblatt was discussing anti-Semitism with members of Congress, he said, "It's not the identity of the culprit that's the issue," but the outcome of threats themselves, which terrified Jews and disrupted Jewish life. He said anti-Semitism remained a serious concern, pointing to other recent incidents around the country. Swastikas were drawn throughout a New York City subway car with messages such as "Jews belong in the oven." In South Carolina, a white supremacist with felony convictions was charged with plotting an attack on a synagogue that officials said was inspired by the massacre at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. A Seattle synagogue was vandalized with a spray-painted message, "The Holocaust is fake history." Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, a civil rights and social justice group based in New York, said the arrest in Israel doesn't change Trump's record of being slow and insufficiently forceful in condemning anti-Jewish prejudice and bigotry in general. The center had repeatedly pointed to the bomb threats as evidence of "a national emergency of anti-Semitism" and accused Trump of failing to recognize the "real evidence" behind the problem. "Nobody has said that Donald Trump himself has spray-painted swastikas or tipped over gravestones or that he picked up the phone and made bomb threats," Goldstein said. "What we were condemning was the silence. Organizations had to shame Donald Trump into responding." The White House has not commented on Thursday's arrest. Melissa Plotkin, director of community engagement and diversity at the York Jewish Community Center in Pennsylvania, which was the target of a bomb threat last month, said it was "troubling" to find out the suspect was Jewish. "I'm trying to make sense of it and wonder what was going through the mind of the person when they were carrying this out," Plotkin said. The Jewish Federations of North America called the case "heartbreaking." Rabbi Joshua Hammerman of Temple Beth El in Stamford, Connecticut, said the case was an uncomfortable reminder of what he had been through. In 1999, medical waste marked with swastikas was left in his synagogue parking lot. The incident prompted an outpouring of support from religious leaders and others in the community. But then police charged a member of his congregation, an outcome Hammerman described as "somewhat embarrassing" and "difficult." The rabbi expressed concern that the arrest of the Israeli-American teen would fuel denial of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. Goldstein said his office had received emails Thursday claiming all reports of anti-Semitism were "fake news." "I think we should never jump to conclusions as to who did a particular act and allow the process of investigation to play itself out," Hammerman said in a phone interview. "On the other hand, we should be equally vocal in calling out those who seem to condone such activity or at least don't explicitly condemn it." Andrew Rehfield, chief executive of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, said "finding out this guy was Jewish was baffling to us." Rehfield was among local leaders who organized the community's response to the cemetery vandalism last month, which drew donations and offers of help from Christians and Muslims, and political leaders from around the country. Some Jewish institutions in Missouri had also received bomb threats. Rehfield worried that efforts to combat anti-Semitism would be undermined not only by the identity of the bomb threat suspect, but also the partisan prism through which such incidents are viewed. Rehfield had been criticized by opponents of Trump for accompanying Vice President Mike Pence on a visit to the vandalized cemetery. Then on Thursday, Rehfield said a Jewish Trump supporter distributed an email demanding Jewish leaders apologize to the president now that police say a Jew was responsible for the threats. "I think it does speak to the extremism on either side and the lack of charity and the lack of nuance," Rehfield said. "None of us attributed this to Trump. None of us attributed this to (White House chief strategist Steve) Bannon. None of us attributed it to David Duke. I'm not going to apologize for wanting the administration to clearly condemn anti-Semitism."
