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Israeli teen behind 591 bomb threats to Australian schools, police allege | Australian security and counter-terrorism | The Guardian

Israeli teen behind 591 bomb threats to Australian schools, police allege | Australian security and counter-terrorism | The Guardian


Israeli teen behind 591 bomb threats to Australian schools, police allege

This article is more than 9 years old

The calls were linked to the evacuation of more than 20 schools at the start of the 2016 school year

An Israeli teenager charged this week with making more than 2,000 hoax bomb threats to schools, Jewish centres, hospitals and airlines in five countries is alleged to have been behind 591 bomb threats against schools in Australia, Victoria police have confirmed.

The 18-year-old is alleged to have robo-called schools in Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in January 2016.

The calls were linked to the evacuation of more than 20 schools at the start of the 2016 school year and prompted an international investigation, led in Australia by the Victorian police e-crime squad.

The teen, identified in US court documents as Michael Kadar despite a suppression order against revealing his identity in Israel, was arrested by Israeli police last month and charged on Sunday with making hoax threats to schools and centres in the United States, Britain, New Zealand and Israel, as well as Australia.

Representative Carolyn Maloney speaks after a news conference to address bomb treats against Jewish organizations. An Israeli teenager is accused of falsely making many such threats.
Israeli teen accused of 2,000 bomb hoax calls and blackmail
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The FBI has applied to extradite Kadar to the US, but the application has been refused.

A spokeswoman for Victoria police said Israeli police who made the arrest acknowledged that “they could not have done it without us”.

“The Victoria police e-crime squad provided vital cyber evidence which resulted in the arrest of the Israeli suspect,” she said.

On Thursday, Victoria police arrested another 17-year-old boy in relation to a separate spate of bomb threats made between May 2016 and April 2017.

The boy is alleged to have made 74 hoax threats: nine against schools in Victoria, 13 against schools in NSW and 49 against schools in South Australia.

He appeared in court on Thursday and was bailed to reappear in June.

That arrest followed a joint investigation by the Victorian e-crime squad, the NSW fraud and cybercrime squad, and SA electronic crime detectives.

“The states will continue to work together to investigate cyber and high-tech crime and the teams are dedicated to reducing these types of incidents,” Snr Sgt Sharon Darcy said.

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Israeli teen accused of 2,000 bomb hoax calls and blackmail

This article is more than 9 years old

Michael Kadar, US-Israeli citizen arrested over alleged bomb threats, faces charges over international calls and attempt to blackmail Delaware state senator

An Israeli teenager arrested for allegedly making bomb threats against Jewish centres in the US is facing charges relating to thousands of hoax calls worldwide, including against airlines and police stations, according to an indictment filed to a Tel Aviv court.

The 18-year-old, identified by US prosecutors as Michael Kadar, is facing accusations of making threats for financial gain alongside charges of money laundering and the attempted blackmail of Ernesto Lopez, a Delaware state senator.

Details of the charges being faced by the teenager, a joint US-Israeli citizen who lives in the coastal city of Ashkelon, came as it emerged that Israel would probably oppose his extradition to the US, where many of the crimes were allegedly committed.

The Israeli indictment includes allegations that he made threats to about 2,000 institutions worldwide using sophisticated technology to mask his voice and IP address.

Kadar, who has not been named in Israeli proceedings, was arrested last month in Ashkelon, after a joint investigation by Israeli and US authorities, including the FBI.

The threats against targets including Israeli diplomatic offices, schools, shopping centres, law enforcement agencies, hospitals and airlines contributed to fears of rising antisemitism in the US.

Antisemitic threats are ‘horrible’, says Trump Guardian

The indictment said that after Lopez, a Republican on the Delaware senate, criticised the wave of threats, Kadar called him to demand payment in bitcoin or face incrimination on the internet. When Lopez did not respond, he ordered drugs online to send to the senator’s house.

Kadar is separately accused of threatening to kidnap and kill the children of a former CIA and Pentagon official.

In addition to the bomb threats to Jewish centres, the indictment said Kadar made a bomb threat against an El-Al flight to Israel that sparked fighter jets to be scrambled, and threatened a Canadian airport, which required passengers to disembark in emergency slides and left six people injured.

He is also accused of threatening a Virgin flight that as a result dumped eight tons of fuel before landing, and of threatening a plane being used by the NBA’s Boston Celtics.

Reports in the Israeli media have alleged Kadar took payments for some of the bomb threats from students who wanted exams postponed. He reportedly had almost $500,000 in his bitcoin account at the time of his arrest.

The indictment said he posted set fees for calls to police stations, schools or airports.

The Israeli indictment comes three days after the US Department of Justice brought 32 charges against Kadar, including conveying false information to police, cyberstalking, and making threatening calls to about 200 institutions.

An indictment filed in a Florida court on Friday accused the teenager of making threatening calls – with his voice disguised to sound like a woman – describing in graphic detail how children would be killed in US Jewish centres.

It linked Kadar to at least 245 threatening telephone calls between 4 January and 7 March 2017, many targeting Jewish community centres in the United States.

The US attorney general, Jeff Sessions, described the calls as responsible for “threats of violence [that] instilled terror in Jewish and other communities across this country”.

Israeli media have reported that the country’s justice ministry, which has been involved in talks with US justice officials, would probably not agree to his extradition because of the seriousness of the charges he is already facing in Israel.

His lawyer, Shira Nir, has said she intends to argue that the teenager – who it is claimed has autism and a brain tumour – should not be regarded as legally competent.

“It is unthinkable that a young man who is right in his mind with these mental skills will consider doing a fraction of what my client is charged with, and if found to be guilty of the allegations against him it is our duty as a society to above all provide him with the treatment he needs.

“I will ask the court for a sanction in lieu of jail time, as with every day that passes my client’s mental state deteriorates further.”

Kadar’s American-born mother said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 2 that her son was was unable to function in school due to a brain tumour.

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2017 Jewish Community Center bomb threats

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In early 2017, a wave of more than 2,000 bomb threats were made against Jewish Community Centers in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, and Denmark.[1] Two arrests and two convictions were made in connection with the threats: Michael Ron David Kadar, a dual American-Israeli citizen, who received a ten-year sentence,[2][3] along with Juan M. Thompson, a former journalist, who received a five-year sentence.[4] Kadar was said to have acted out of boredom, while Thompson had sought to frame a woman whom he'd previously dated.[5][6]

Theories

Jerry Silverman of the Jewish Federations of North America said the threats were part of a "coordinated effort" to intimidate American Jews.[7] In February, during an interview on CNN, U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler said that some supporters of Donald Trump were responsible for the threats.[8] Trump denounced the JCC bomb threats and anti-Semitism,[9] and said that this may be a case of someone trying to make others look bad.[10]

In an op-ed for The Baltimore Sun, deputy editor Tricia Bishop said the threats represent a growing attitude of racial intolerance in the United States, but likely no specific group or person was responsible for the threats. She implored readers to "stand up ... before it's your children they come for."[11]

Perpetrators

In March 2017, two persons were arrested on separate charges of making a number of the bomb threats:

Israeli-American man

A 19-year-old Jewish Israeli-American named as Michael Ron David Kadar, was arrested in March 2017 in Ashkelon, Israel and charged with responsibility for "dozens" of the threats.[12] Kadar had earlier been rejected from enlistment in the Israel Defense Forces due to mental health issues.[13]

According to Israeli police, Kadar had used "advanced technologies" to disguise his voice and mask the fact the calls were originating from Israel.[12] According to court documents, Kadar allegedly advertised on the dark web the service of threatening any school for $30.[14] Kadar's defense attorney said he has a brain tumor, which may have influenced his behavior.[15] He was suspected of threatening over 2,000 different institutions in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia including the Israeli Embassy in Washington, the Israeli consulate in Miami, schools, malls, police stations, hospitals and airlines. His threats reportedly caused fighter jets to be scrambled, planes to dump fuel and make emergency landings, and schools to evacuate.

In April 2017, an indictment against Kadar was filed in an Israeli court charging him with several crimes including an attempt to extort a United States senator, "publishing false reports causing public panic, conspiring to commit a crime, hacking computers to commit a crime, and violations of money-laundering laws". In the same month, a similar indictment was filed against him in a federal court in Florida charging him with 28 crimes, and he was separately charged with 3 additional crimes in a federal court in Georgia. Israeli authorities reportedly refused to extradite him to the US, preferring to try him in Israel.[16][17] In June 2018, he was convicted on hundreds of counts including charges of extortion, publishing false information that caused panic, computer offenses, and money laundering.[18]

In November 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, plus a fine and 1 year probation.[19] Kadar was not named in Israeli courts because he was tried as a minor, but he was identified in indictment papers issued by the US.[20][19] He would have been sentenced to 17 years if not for his mental issues: autism spectrum and paranoid delusions. Described as highly intelligent, his crimes earned him $240,000 in Bitcoin, worth over $1 million at the time of the sentence. Kadar refused to hand over the password to his Bitcoin digital wallet.[21]

Kadar was released from prison in 2024, but still faces federal charges in the United States. He was detained in Norway in December 2024 and his request for asylum has been rejected, albeit he has yet to be extradited.[22]

African-American journalist

Juan M. Thompson, a former journalist for The Intercept, was charged with responsibility for at least eight of the incidents.[23] According to media reports, Thompson had called in the threats in an attempt to frame a woman whom he had previously dated.[24] According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the woman had been the subject of previous harassment by Thompson, which included an alleged attempt by him to falsely report her for possession of child pornography.[25] On 13 June 2017, Thompson pleaded guilty to sending bomb threats to Jewish community centers.[26]

See also

References

  1.  "Israeli-American convicted for making bomb threats against Jewish institutions 'out of boredom'". Newsweek. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  2.  "Israel Convicts Hacker Who Threatened US Jewish Centers - The New York Times". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  3.  "US-Israeli bomb hoaxer given 10 year jail sentence". BBC News. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  4.  "The Latest: Victim in Jewish threats case talks about terror". Associated Press. 20 December 2017.
  5.  "Israel convicts hacker who threatened US Jewish centers". AP News. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  6.  "Arrest made in national threats to Jewish community centers". PBS News. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  7.  Smith, Mitch (9 January 2017). "Anonymous Bomb Threats Rattle Jewish Centers Across Eastern U.S." The New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  8.  "4th Wave of Bomb Threats Hit 11 Jewish Community Centers Nationwide". Democracy Now. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  9.  "More bomb threats target Jewish community. Trump finally responds". CNN. 16 February 2017.
  10.  "Trump reportedly said JCC threats may be trying to 'make others look bad'".
  11.  Bishop, Tricia (2 March 2017). "We're to blame for the bomb threats on babies". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  12.  Beaumont, Peter (23 March 2017). "Israeli teenager arrested over bomb threats to US Jewish targets". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  13.  Shapiro, Emily (23 March 2017). "Jewish Israeli-American man arrested in connection to bomb threats against Jewish centers". ABC News. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  14.  Ax, Joseph (9 August 2017). "Bomb threat suspect in Israel offered services on dark web: U.S. authorities". Reuters. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  15.  "Teen arrested over bomb threats". Yahoo! News. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  16.  "Israel said to refuse to extradite teen JCC bomb hoaxer to US". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  17.  Pulwer, Sharon (24 April 2017). "JCC Bomb Hoaxer Indicted in Israel; Charged With Threatening to Kill Ex-Pentagon Official's Kids". Haaretz. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  18.  Pileggi, Tamar (28 June 2018). "Israeli-US teen convicted of thousands of bomb threats, including against JCCs". Times of Israel. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  19.  Bar Peleg (22 November 2018). "Israeli-American Who Terrorized U.S. Jews With Thousands of Bomb Threats Jailed for 10 Years". Haaretz.
  20.  "US-Israeli bomb hoaxer given 10 year jail sentence - BBC News". BBC News. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  21.  "U.S.-Israeli man sentenced in Israel over global bomb threats". Reuters. 22 November 2018.
  22.  ToI Staff. "Report: Israeli-US man behind JCC bomb threats held in Norway pending US extradition". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  23.  "Man held over US Jewish centre threats". BBC. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  24.  Golshan, Tara (3 March 2017). "The first arrest made in connection to JCC bomb threats was about settling a personal score". Vox. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  25.  Green, Emma (3 March 2017). "The FBI Arrests a Man for Making Bomb Threats Against Jewish Institutions". The Atlantic. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  26.  Bekiempis, Victoria (13 June 2017). "Juan Thompson pleads guilty to anti-Semitic bomb threats". Daily News. New York. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
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