JERUSALEM/NEW YORK--A teenager with dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship was arrested in Israel on Thursday on suspicion of making dozens of hoax bomb threats against Jewish community centers in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
The suspect, whose identity remains sealed pursuant to a court order, is 18, Jewish and a dual U.S.-Israeli national, a police spokesman said. The teenager's alleged motives were not immediately clear.
At a court hearing near Tel Aviv, the suspect's defense attorney, Galit Bash, said the young man has a growth in his head that causes behavioural problems. She later told Reuters he has a brain tumour, which "may affect his behaviour, his ability to understand right and wrong," and said the teen's father had also been held in connection with the case.
U.S. federal authorities have been investigating a surge of threats against Jewish organizations, including more than 100 bomb threats in separate waves over the past three months targeting Jewish community centers (JCCs) in dozens of states. The threats prompted criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump for what some Jewish groups saw as an inadequate response from his administration. He condemned the incidents in a major speech to Congress in February.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday said the arrest reflected the government's determination to prosecute those who perpetrate hate crimes."We will not tolerate the targeting of any community in this country on the basis of their religious beliefs," Sessions said in a statement.
Israeli police said the teenager is believed to be responsible for most of the threats, though the precise number was not immediately clear. The suspect, who is accused of targeting centers in Australia and New Zealand as well as the United States, began making the calls in January using advanced masking technologies to hide his identity, police said.
Authorities also said he was responsible for a previous bomb threat against a Delta Airlines flight in January 2015 at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
