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Man in Peru charged with making recent bomb threats to US synagogues, FBI says
(JTA) — Authorities in Peru have arrested a 33-year-old man who the FBI has charged with making a string of bomb threats targeting U.S. Jewish institutions, including synagogues on Rosh Hashanah.
Eddie Manuel Nunez Santos made more than 150 threats, mostly by email, against synagogues, hospitals, school districts and other institutions in five states between Sept. 15 and Sept. 21, according to the FBI’s complaint against him, which was unsealed Thursday. Nunez Santos was arrested in Lima on Tuesday, according to the FBI.
The FBI says Nunez Santos, who is Peruvian, embarked on the bomb threat spree after asking teen girls to send him pornographic pictures of themselves and being rejected. He is also being charged with crimes related to those requests, the FBI said.
Some of the emailed threats included phone numbers to contact. Those phone numbers, the FBI said, belonged to the teen girls who had rejected or cut off contact with him.
The tally of threats in the complaint reflect only some of those that have been reported by synagogues or their local police departments in the last few months. None of the threats have been credible.
After Rosh Hashanah, which began on the evening of Sept. 15, the Anti-Defamation League said it had counted a total of 71 threats against Jewish institutions in 14 states since July 21. But the ADL, an antisemitism watchdog, cautioned that the real number may be even higher: Some communities, it said, had chosen not to disclose the threats they received, in part to avoid gratifying whoever was issuing them.
The bomb threats targeting synagogues have, in many cases, led to congregations being evacuated in the middle of prayer services so that police can conduct a sweep of the building. In addition, the threats included in the complaint resulted in thousands of schoolchildren evacuating their schools; a lockdown of a hospital; and flight delays, according to the FBI.
The FBI and antisemitism watchdogs did not immediately respond to questions about whether additional people might have been responsible for the recent wave of bomb threats. The threats in the complaint were made to institutions in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Arizona, and Alaska, according to the FBI, but evacuations were reported in several other states including several in New Jersey on Rosh Hashanah.
The complaint includes an example of a complaint received by a synagogue in Westchester County, New York, on Sept. 17, the second day of the holiday. “I placed multiple bombs inside the Jewish Center,” the threat said. “The bombs I placed in the building will blow up in a few hours. Many people will lay in a pool of blood.”
At the time, the Westchester Jewish Council’s security committee emailed synagogues in the county saying that local police and the council’s own security official had investigated the email and others received in the area that day and deemed them non-credible. The committee emphasized that all threats needed to be investigated, a warning that came after months of recurring fake threats.
Using data tied to the emails, and by investigating the included phone numbers, law enforcement agents were able to trace the emailed threats to Nunez Santos, who works as a web developer.
The five charges that Nunez Santos faces, if he is convicted, carry the potential of significant prison time. The charges of conveying hoaxes and communicating threats across state lines carry maximum sentences of five years in prison. The charges related to child pornography and exploitation carry much harsher penalties.
“Not only did Santos allegedly email hundreds of hoax bomb threats terrorizing schools, hospitals, and houses of worship, he also perversely tried to sextort innocent teenage girls. His actions wasted limited law enforcement resources, put first responders in unnecessary danger, and victimized children,” the FBI’s assistant director in charge, James Smith, said in a statement. “The FBI will not tolerate anyone who seeks to induce fear in our communities, and we will do whatever it takes to put the perpetrators of such actions behind bars, regardless of their location.”
This is not the first time false bomb threats have been called into a series of Jewish institutions. More than 100 such threats were called into Jewish community centers in the early months of 2017 — most of which, it was later discovered, came from a teen in Israel. In 2020, dozens of JCCs received a separate series of emailed bomb threats.
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The post Man in Peru charged with making recent bomb threats to US synagogues, FBI says appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Dozens of Terrorists Eliminated in Central Gaza, Weapons Seized from UN School in Raid
Some rises after an Israeli strike as Israeli forces launch a ground and air operation in the eastern part of Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
i24 News – Israel Defense Forces continue to operate in the Shejaiya area at the same time as fighting in the Rafah area and in the center of the Gaza Strip, the army said.
In the Shejaiya area, forces of the 98th Division attacked dozens of terrorist sites with the help of airstrikes from the Israel Air Force.
Over the weekend, Israeli soldiers raided a UN school in Shejaiya, where terrorists hid and stored weapons, grenades and valuable intelligence documents
This is yet another example of how Gazan terrorists use civilian structures to carry out attacks against Israeli forces pic.twitter.com/9oA9KLJehC
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) June 30, 2024
A UN school was raided where terrorists hid and stored weapons, grenades, and sensitive documents. In addition, a Hamas command center was discovered in a clinic.
Since Saturday, division forces located weapons, raided and captured terrorist compounds, and eliminated a number of terrorists.
IDF strikes Hamas target in Gaza
Israeli forces continue to operate in the Shejaiya area while continuing to push in Rafah and in central Gaza
The IDF attacked and destroyed a mortar launch position located within a tunnel shaft in Rafah pic.twitter.com/JqTACvuMys
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) June 30, 2024
The 162nd Division meanwhile continues in the Rafah area, eliminating a number of terrorists in various encounters and destroying tunnel shafts in the area.
The 99th Division 99 the center of the Gaza Strip carried out raids and destroyed terrorist infrastructure in the area.
Also on Saturday, an airstrikes destroyed a mortar launch position located inside a tunnel shaft in Rafah.
The post Dozens of Terrorists Eliminated in Central Gaza, Weapons Seized from UN School in Raid first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Government Approves Danny Danon as UN Ambassador
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon at a briefing on Iranian aggression on May 6, 2020. Photo: Screenshot.
i24 News – The Israeli government unanimously agreed on Sunday to appoint Likud lawmaker Danny Danon as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, succeeding the current ambassador, Gilad Erdan.
Danon, who previously held this position, will soon serve a second term. Danon’s appointment to this important position comes at a particularly crucial time, as he is expected to represent Israel on the international stage as the country faces challenges at home and abroad.
“I am proud to return to serve the State of Israel as Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations during this critical period,” he said on Twitter.
“As Israel faces battles on numerous fronts, each and every one of us must do his utmost within his skills and experiences,” he said in an earlier statement. “This is how I have behaved in the past, and this is how I will continue to behave in the future.”
I am proud to return to serve the State of Israel as Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations during this critical period.
With Israel confronting challenges on multiple fronts, it is imperative for each of us to contribute to the best of our abilities and experiences. This…
— Danny Danon דני דנון (@dannydanon) June 30, 2024
“In the face of the diplomatic terrorism that is rearing its head these days, I am forced to present the truth and hold my head high for the people of Israel and our common future here,” he concluded.
It is expected that Avihai Boaron, a former member of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, will enter in place of Danon.
The post Israeli Government Approves Danny Danon as UN Ambassador first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Los Angeles Is Becoming Unsafe for Its Jewish Residents” Says Israeli Minister
Governor Newsom speaking at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. Photo Credit: Office of Governor Gavin Newsom.
i24 News – Amichai Shikli, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora and Antisemitism, has urgently called upon California’s governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles’s mayor Karen Bass to address a concerning escalation of antisemitic incidents in the city.
In a strongly worded letter sent following a surge in antisemitic activities since October 7, 2023, Shikli expressed deep apprehension about the safety of Jewish residents in Los Angeles.
“Los Angeles is becoming more and more unsafe for its Jewish residents,” Shikli stated, emphasizing the urgent need for proactive measures to combat the rising tide of antisemitism.
He highlighted recent violent demonstrations on campuses that endangered Jewish students, alongside two serious incidents that he believes were mishandled by authorities.
One incident he pointed to was the tragic murder of Paul Kessler in November 2023 during a pro-Israel demonstration. Shikli criticized the court’s failure to classify the attack as a hate crime, stating, “It is shocking to see that the court did not recognize this as a hate crime. Paul was attacked for the sole reason that he was a Jew and a Zionist.”
Additionally, Shikli referenced an incident earlier in the week where an anti-Israel group disrupted an event at Adat Torah synagogue, resulting in an attack on Jewish attendees. Despite prior knowledge of the demonstration, law enforcement allegedly failed to take preventive actions to ensure the safety of Jewish residents.
Concerned about the city’s largest Jewish community in North America, Shikli urged immediate steps to enhance security around Jewish institutions and to ensure law enforcement is adequately trained to handle antisemitic crimes effectively. “At a time when antisemitism is at an all-time high, I urge you to implement measures to combat it,” he asserted.
The minister concluded his letter by proposing collaboration with local authorities and inviting the Los Angeles Police Department to participate in an international training program aimed at equipping security forces worldwide to combat antisemitism effectively.
The post ‘Los Angeles Is Becoming Unsafe for Its Jewish Residents” Says Israeli Minister first appeared on Algemeiner.com.