The Latest: US hails arrest in threats on Jewish centers


              FILE - In this March 3, 2017, file photo, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, center, a member of Congress's bipartisan task force combating anti-Semitism, speaks with a reporter after holding a press conference to address bomb treats against Jewish organizations and vandalism at Jewish cemeteries at the Park East Synagogue in New York. Israeli police arrested a 19-year-old Israeli Jewish man on Thursday, March 23, as the primary suspect in a string of bomb threats targeting Jewish community centers and other institutions in the U.S., marking a potential breakthrough in the case. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
FILE - In this March 3, 2017, file photo, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, center, a member of Congress's bipartisan task force combating anti-Semitism, speaks with a reporter after holding a press conference to address bomb treats against Jewish organizations and vandalism at Jewish cemeteries at the Park East Synagogue in New York. Israeli police arrested a 19-year-old Israeli Jewish man on Thursday, March 23, as the primary suspect in a string of bomb threats targeting Jewish community centers and other institutions in the U.S., marking a potential breakthrough in the case. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

JERUSALEM (AP) - The Latest on Israeli police saying they have arrested a Jewish Israeli man who is the prime suspect behind a wave of bomb threats against Jewish community centers and other institutions in the United States (all times local):

4:15 p.m.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the arrest of a 19-year-old Israeli Jewish man in a string of bomb threats targeting U.S. Jewish community centers shows the Justice Department will not tolerate religious-oriented attacks.

Sessions said in a statement Thursday that the arrest is the result of a large investigation into hate crimes against the Jewish community. He says the Justice Department "will not tolerate the targeting of any community in the country on the basis of their religious beliefs."

He called work by the FBI and Israeli police "outstanding."

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2:50 p.m.

Israeli police say they have arrested a 19-year-old Israeli Jewish man as the primary suspect in a string of bomb threats targeting Jewish community centers in the U.S.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Thursday the suspect's motives are unclear.

Rosenfeld says the suspect is "the guy who was behind the JCC threats," referring to Jewish community centers in the U.S. that have received dozens of anonymous threats in recent weeks.

Rosenfeld says the man, from the south of Israel, used advanced technologies to mask the origin of his calls and communications to synagogues, community buildings and public venues. He says the suspect also made threats in New Zealand and Australia.

He says the investigation was carried out with the help of the FBI and police from other countries.

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