A U.S.-Israeli teen has been arrested in connection with of bomb threats against Jewish community centers around the world.
The arrest comes at least three months after the bomb threats against Jewish community centers began, according to The Christian Science Monitor.
Israeli police arrested the suspect on Thursday, and authorities believe the teen threatened Jewish centers in the U.S., Israel, Australia and New Zealand.
“We believe he is responsible for the wave of calls, bomb threats, made to Jewish community centers in the United States,” a police spokesman said, according to CSM.
The unnamed 19-year-old is a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, and is also Jewish, according to NBC News.
It’s not clear what the suspect’s motive was, but his attorney told the court that her client has a brain tumor that effects his emotional behavior.
Although the arrest was made Thursday, a federal official told NBC that authorities came very close to an arrest on Monday.
“This kid was very sophisticated,” the official said. “What he did in avoiding law enforcement, he did a great job. We just did better than him.”
The official credits “cyber work and IP tracing” as the tools that helped authorities ultimately catch the suspect.
According to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, the suspect used “advance camouflage technologies” to contact different countries to make the threats – calls that were made in the confines of his bedroom.
“He didn’t use regular phone lines. He used different computer systems so he couldn’t be backtracked,” Rosenfeld said.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions commented on the matter, saying the arrest is “the culmination of a large-scale investigation spanning multiple continents…and we will not tolerate the targeting of any community in this country on the basis of their religious beliefs.”
The president and CEO of the JCC Association of North America, Doron Krakow, offered his sentiments regarding the arrest, according to CNN.
“We are 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,” Krakow said.
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