Jewish community centers in several states reported receiving ultimately discredited bomb threats on Monday. None of the threats targeted Jewish organizations or institutions in Los Angeles.
“There have been no threats here in Los Angeles,” Ivan Wolkind, chief operating and financial officer at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, which operates the Community Security Initiative for the Jewish community in Los Angeles, said in a phone interview on Monday. “And what we always say is, we try not to do anything reactively as a result of an event happening somewhere else, or an event happening anywhere.”
The threats occurred in Florida, Tennessee, Maryland, South Carolina and Delaware, the ADL statement says.
“Law enforcement are investigating the incident, which may have originated from the same phone number. So far, no explosives have been found,” the ADL statement says.
Haaretz, an Israel-based daily newspaper, reported that the calls were both prerecorded and live.
The ADL statement says the threats “may have originated from the same phone number.”
The ADL said in a statement the threats did “not appear to be credible.” Nevertheless, Wolkind described threats made through phone calls as an effective way of causing disruption to local Jewish communities.
“For sure what we can all see—if there is a phone-in threat, it for sure causes disruption and worry to a Jewish institute,” he said. “We have no way of knowing who phoned these in and why.”
The Community Security Initiative of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles provides resources to local Jewish organizations related to security measures.
