Israel Police Arrest Suspect In US JCC Bomb Threats

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

JERUSALEM (CBSMiami/AP) —  A 19-year-old hacker is the main suspect in a wave of bomb threats at Jewish community centers throughout the United States - something that's sent fear through the American Jewish community.

The surprising arrest of the Jewish man, who holds dual Israeli and American citizenship, came after a trans-Atlantic investigation with the FBI and other international law enforcement agencies. U.S. Jewish groups, including those in south Florida, welcomed the breakthrough in the case, which had raised concerns of rising anti-Semitism and drawn condemnation from President Donald Trump.

It's unclear whether he's responsible for the threats at south Florida centers since January. JCCs in Miami Beach, Kendall, Pinecrest, Palm Beach Gardens and Davie have all been hit.

The David Posnack Jewish Community Center in Davie got two bomb threats within eight days - both of which were unfounded. The school along with the Jewish Federation of Broward County released a statement about Thursday's arrest saying,

"We are not prepared to make a statement at this moment.  We are glad that a suspect has been arrested, however, based on the limited information provided, we don't know whether this is the main perpetrator or a copycat.  We are grateful to law enforcement for their efforts and at this time await further details." 

Risa Chopp's kids attend the Jewish day school.

"It's upsetting that he's a sick child and that he doesn't understand the repercussions that it has when kids do things like this," said Chopp.

"It's sad. It breaks my heart that it ended up being someone who's Jewish but we're happy that it's been taken care of and that law enforcement and the government, the Israelie government and the American government has figured it out," said parent Rachel Antevy.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) also issued a statement saying,

"We spoke to the FBI earlier today. They are working with the Israeli authorities who have arrested someone in Israel they believe is responsible for at least some of the recent threats against Jewish community centers here in the U.S. As the investigation continues, I have asked the FBI to ensure that this is the same individual responsible for the recent threats made to centers in Florida."

Israeli police described the suspect as a hacker, but said his motives were still unclear.

"He's the guy who was behind the JCC threats," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, referring to the scores of anonymous threats phoned in to Jewish community centers in the U.S. over the past two months.

Police banned publication of his name, but said he was a dual citizen and would remain in custody until at least March 30th. During the arrest raid, they said he tried to grab an officer's gun but was stopped by another officer.

The young man appeared briefly 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. He made no comment.

Related: 'Kids Targeted Because They're Jewish': Parent After 2nd Bomb Threat At School 

His lawyer, Galit Bash, said her client had a "very serious medical condition" that might have affected his behavior. She said the condition had prevented him from attending elementary school, high school or enlisting in the army, which is compulsory for most Jewish men.

"That's why the medical condition can actually affect the investigation," she said. "This is one of the things the judge told the police to check, to talk to his doctors, to get more documents and to investigate him according to his medical situation."

Channel 10 TV said the condition was a brain tumor. It also showed images of a large antenna outside the suspect's house in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. Police said the suspect's father was also detained, apparently because of the equipment. Late Thursday, police said the father's detention had been extended by eight days.

In Washington, the FBI confirmed the arrest of the main suspect.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions 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."

Since Jan. 9th, there have been more than 150 bomb threats against Jewish community centers and day schools in 37 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, according to the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish group that battles anti-Semitism.

The threats led to evacuations, sent a chill through local Jewish communities and raised fears of rising anti-Semitism. Acts of vandalism on Jewish targets, including cemeteries, have added to those concerns.

As the number of threats grew, Trump was criticized for not speaking out. Then, late last month, he opened a speech to Congress by denouncing anti-Semitism. There was no immediate reaction from the White House to Thursday's arrest.

The ADL, JCC Association of America and Jewish Federations of North America all welcomed news of the arrest.

But Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the ADL, said anti-Semitism in the U.S. remains a "very serious concern."

"JCCs and other institutions should not relax security measures or become less vigilant," he said.

U.S. authorities have also arrested a former journalist from St. Louis, Juan Thompson, for allegedly threatening Jewish organizations and charged him with one count of cyberstalking.

But Israeli police described the local man as the primary suspect in the wave of threats.

Police said he used sophisticated "camouflage technologies" to disguise his voice and mask his location. They said a search of the teen's home uncovered antennas and satellite equipment.

"In sophisticated cyber activity that I cannot detail, we obtained what we obtained and of course exposed him and his equipment," national police chief Roni Alsheich told reporters. "This does not bring honor to the state of Israel of course. But I think it does bring respect to Israel's police."

Police said the threats had caused panic, "significant economic damage" and disrupted public order at locations around the world.

The man is also suspected of placing threatening phone calls to Australia, New Zealand and within Israel. They also said he had disrupted a Delta Airlines flight at New York's JFK airport in early 2015.

Harel Menashri, a former cyber expert with Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency, said it was not "too complicated" for the suspect to do what he did.

He said it appeared the suspect had penetrated neighbors' Wi-Fi systems to create multiple computer addresses.

"One of the things that helped him evade capture was he apparently took control over additional computers on the way and created a kind of computer chain," he said.

Nimrod Vax, a co-founder of the U.S.-Israeli cybersecurity firm BigID, said catching the suspect was a more complicated task.

He said authorities would have had to sift through "billions, if not trillions" of pieces of data, including phone records, routing logs and IP connections.

"It requires a lot of resources," he said.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)