Israeli police on Thursday arrested a young man believed to be responsible for scores of bomb threats that were phoned in to Jewish community centers across the United States, reports the New York Times. The FBI confirmed that the bureau had worked with the Israeli national police to arrest the man, who, officials said, holds citizenship in both Israel and the United States. The Jerusalem Post said the suspect is 19 years old and also is accused of making bomb threats in Europe, Australia and New Zealand over the past six months. A Jerusalem police spokesman described the suspect as a hacker but said his motives were still unclear.
Jewish community centers across the United States have reported more than 100 bomb threats since the beginning of the year. The calls led to evacuations and bomb sweeps and heightened worries about anti-semitism in the United States. The suspect was using anonymizer software to cover his tracks, according to U.S. law enforcement officials. The technology made it harder for the F.B.I. to pinpoint who was making the threats. The case in Israel is separate from that of the St. Louis man who was arrested this month and accused of making at least a half-dozen other threats to Jewish centers.