19-year-old Israeli man arrested over threats to U.S. Jewish community centers

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

last updated 23 March 2017

Israeli police arrested a 19-year-old Israeli-American dual citizen Thursday on the belief that he is responsible for a wave of threats made to Jewish community centers and institutions in the U.S. over the past several months, The Washington Post reports. Earlier, the FBI arrested journalist Juan Thompson for at least eight threats against Jewish centers, but the threats continued even after Thompson was discovered.

Israeli cyberattack police worked with the FBI to track down the suspect. The 19-year-old is allegedly responsible for a bulk of the threats, including possibly the evacuations of dozens of Jewish daycares, schools, and workplaces. The suspect is also believed to be responsible for threatening a Delta Airlines flight, resulting in the plane executing an emergency landing.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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