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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| Police believe suspect began JCC hoax bomb campaign because army rejected him | |
| 2017-03-25 | |
| [IsraelTimes] Israeli-American teen was turned down for IDF service, and was determined to show ’what he was capable of,’ TV report claims. The Israeli-American teenager locked away Book 'im, Mahmoud! Thursday on suspicion of phoning in over 100 hoax bomb threats against Jewish institutions across the US and elsewhere reportedly began making the calls after the army refused to accept him for military service, apparently on medical grounds. Quoting Israeli police sources, Israel’s Channel 10 news said the army rejection infuriated and depressed him, and made him determined to show "what he was capable of." Parts of the case, including the 18-year-old suspect’s name, remain under a gag order in Israel. The TV report said that the suspect was tracked down following an initial tip from New Zealand, one of several countries along with the United States to which he had telephoned hoax bomb threats to Jewish organizations. FBI Sherlocks are in Israel questioning the suspect along with Israeli police. His father is also in detention, reportedly on suspicion that he knew what his son was doing, while his mother has disappeared. The American-born Israeli teenager had been wreaking electronic havoc of one kind or another for three years, Israel’s Channel 10 reported without elaboration.
His dozens of calls to Jewish institutions, notably including US Jewish Community Centers in recent months, caused evacuations of schools and daycare centers and widespread concern. He had been home-schooled, rarely left home, but did want to do his mandatory military service, and was refused, the TV report said, infuriating him and prompting his hoax calls campaign. When he saw the impact his bomb threats were having, his motivation grew to make more calls, the TV report said. Here he was "in his little room" in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, and "the whole world was paying attention... Little him, and the whole world was looking for him." His lawyer, Galit Besh, 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. "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 in light of his medical situation." Nearly 150 bomb threats hit JCCs, Jewish day schools and other Jewish institutions since the beginning of the year, causing the evacuation of dozens of Jewish community centers. The threats have mostly come in waves, via phone and email. Many of the institutions have been threatened more than once. | |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 I posed the question to an Israeli friend, who said the IDF starts performing physicals and examining boys for suitable placement at age 15/16. They even have a unit for autistic kids, examining images. So it is possible rejection was the trigger, or the excuse. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2017-03-25 15:15 |