A US-Israeli man accused of making bomb and shooting threats against Jewish institutions in the United States has been extradited from Norway and arraigned Monday in a federal court in Florida, US authorities said.
Michael Ron David Kadar, 27, who became known in Israeli media as the “Ashkelon hacker ”, appeared in court in Orlando on Monday after arriving in the United States from Norway on 18 June.
The US Department of Justice said Kadar faces charges in the Middle District of Florida for hate crimes and obstruction of the free exercise of religion over threats made against Jewish institutions, including community centres, schools and preschool programmes.
Related charges are also pending in Washington, DC, where he is accused of threatening the Israeli embassy and offices of the Anti-Defamation League, and in the Middle District of Georgia, where he faces charges over cyberstalking and a false report to police about an alleged hostage situation at a home in Athens, Georgia.
Kadar previously served a prison sentence in Israel after being convicted over a wider wave of hoax threats against Jewish and non-Jewish institutions in several countries.
According to US prosecutors, the Florida indictment alleges that Kadar made multiple calls in early 2017 claiming there were bombs or active shooters at Jewish community centres across the state. Some of the threats targeted preschool programmes operating inside those facilities.
The calls led to evacuations, lockdowns, temporary closures and emergency responses by police and other first responders. No explosives were found.
The case drew widespread attention in the United States at the time because the threats fuelled fears of a surge in antisemitic attacks against Jewish institutions. Kadar’s arrest in Israel later revealed that the suspect was himself Jewish and held dual US-Israeli citizenship.
US authorities first charged Kadar in 2017, when he was 18. At the time, the Justice Department said he was accused of making threatening calls to Jewish community centres in Florida, giving false information to police in Georgia and cyberstalking.
Investigators said Kadar used sophisticated methods to hide his identity and location, including voice alteration, proxy IP addresses, virtual currencies and caller ID spoofing.
An FBI complaint filed in 2017 said the suspect made at least 245 threatening calls between January and March of that year, many of them involving bomb threats and active shooter threats against Jewish community centres, Jewish schools and Anti-Defamation League offices.
Israeli proceedings later found that Kadar had made around 2,000 hoax threats targeting schools, airports, police stations, hospitals and Jewish institutions in several countries. Israeli media reported that he served seven years of a 10-year sentence before leaving Israel.
US prosecutors say the current charges could carry substantial prison time if he is convicted. Each hate crime charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, each bomb threat charge carries up to 10 years, and interstate threat charges carry up to five years. Kadar could also be ordered to pay restitution to institutions and victims affected by the threats.
The motive remains contested. US prosecutors have charged him with hate crimes because the alleged targets included Jewish institutions. In earlier Israeli proceedings, Kadar was reported to have told psychiatrists that he acted out of boredom and treated the threats as a game.
US court documents have also alleged that he offered “threats for hire” services on the dark web and earned around $240,000 through cryptocurrency payments .
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said: “The alleged crimes stand out for their cruelty and for the harm they caused to the Jewish community. When technology is exploited to terrorize houses of worship and community centers, it is an attack on religious liberty and public safety.”
Duva added: “We will never lose sight of the families, staff, and first responders who were forced to live with these threats.”
US Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida said: “Targeting individuals, groups, or institutions for their religious beliefs is contradictory to the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution and against the law.”
“The crimes alleged in this indictment caused undue trepidation and threats of harm to the Jewish community in our district and will not be tolerated,” Kehoe added.
Kadar had been detained in Norway at the request of US authorities after travelling there following his release from prison in Israel. His lawyers had reportedly fought extradition, arguing that he had already served a sentence in Israel for the same conduct the US now seeks to prosecute him over.
The defence also cited medical grounds, including an autism diagnosis and a brain tumour. According to the defence team, his detention in Oslo led to a deterioration in his physical and mental health, and several suicide attempts were documented during that period.
The Justice Department said the indictment contains allegations only and that Kadar is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.