15-year-old indicted for threatening to blow up soldiers with explosives: 'I know where they sit'

The State Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment against a 15-and-a-half-year-old minor from central Israel, charging him with threatening to commit an act of terror after he sent voice messages in a WhatsApp group in which he threatened to blow up IDF soldiers with explosive devices. The minor swore allegiance to ISIS and was arrested by officers of the Coastal District Police, the Crime Fighting Unit in the Menashe area, and the Shin Bet.

The State Prosecutor's Office today (Thursday) filed an indictment in the Juvenile Court against a minor aged about 15 and a half from central Israel, charging him with the offense of threatening to commit an act of terror. According to the indictment, filed by attorney Hila Cohen Kadush from the Central District Prosecutor's Office, the minor sent a series of voice messages in a WhatsApp group dealing with dog breeding in which he threatened to harm IDF soldiers using explosive devices. At the beginning of the month, he published a video showing a military vehicle near a cowshed, with him saying in the background: 'Here come the army, may God shame them.' Later, he sent another voice message: 'I feel like putting a bomb on them, I know where they sit. You want to direct me to the right thing or the wrong thing, direct me to the wrong thing better. I will put a bomb under each one and may God be with them.' One of the group members warned him that the statements could lead to a police report, but the minor was undeterred and recorded another message: 'I will blow up a bomb on them, soon. They are going to build their cowshed, their stinking tent, and need some time. Wait a little, Allah's gifts will be for them.' Following the report to the police, an investigation was opened leading to his arrest. The prosecution argues that the act was done out of an ideological motive and with the aim of causing fear or panic in the public. Alongside the indictment, the prosecution requested to impose restrictive conditions including a ban on holding a mobile phone and a ban on using social networks.