Bomb threat hoaxes called into four U.S. Jewish day schools

(JTA) — Bomb threat hoaxes targeting four U.S. Jewish day schools resulted in evacuations and a lockdown within the last week.

Hoaxers called in threats two minutes apart on Oct. 9 to two Brooklyn yeshivas, the Yeshivah of Flatbush Joel Braverman High School and the United Talmudical Academy of Williamsburg, News 12 reported. Police later determined the threats were hoaxes.

On Oct. 12, the Donna Klein Jewish Academy preschool in Boca Raton, Florida, was evacuated following a bomb threat. The Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County said in a Facebook post that the threat call was fraudulent.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Jewish Democrat, expressed relief that his constituents were safe. “Let’s be clear: there is no cause in the world that’s served by scaring children. If your grievance leads you to a K–12 school, you’re the problem,” he said on X.

On the same day, the Milken Community School in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles – a private Jewish middle and high school – also went into lockdown after police reported receiving a call about an active shooter, but later clarified the security concern was a bomb threat.

“My son was in math class when the bomb threat was called in,” said a parent of a Milken student, who asked not to be named.

“They had to pull down the shades on the classroom door and windows, lock the door, turn off the lights, and sit under their desks,” the parent said.  . “It sounds pretty intense to have to prepare the classroom like that. He was scared and nervous.”

The Los Angeles Police Department has since confirmed the threat to Milken was a hoax, according to the local ABC affiliate, and an investigation into the call is ongoing.

A series of bomb hoaxes called into Jewish institutions in 2017 terrorized the Jewish communities in the United States and elsewhere. Police in Israel arrested an Israeli-American youth. He was later sentenced to prison.

Experts who consult on security with Jewish organizations said that hoaxes are potent disruptions and should not be downplayed, even once the targets learn that the threat was not real.

“We should not look at these incidents in isolation and base our assessment on that,” Richard Priem, CEO of Community Security Service, said in an interview. “We’re living in an era where, over the last 18 months, we’ve had a number of serious attacks on the Jewish community in the United States and abroad. That should warrant all of us working and thinking about this to take the threats against our community seriously.”

The fear that bomb threats generate constitutes an act of intimidation, Priem said. “It’s very easy to make a bomb threat, and they don’t necessarily indicate advance preparation,” he said. “We have seen a lot of bomb threats over the years that were meant to intimidate, harm and dissuade Jewish community members from participating in Jewish life.”

Michael Masters, the national director and CEO of Secure Community Network, said training was key, even when the bomb threats turn out to be false.

“We tend to see these bomb threats come in waves,” he said in an interview. “The difference in how these threats are responded to usually comes down to the training, the preparation and the plan that the institution puts in place. It’s so important for institutions to have a plan, to review it, and to implement it prior to these calls coming in,” added Masters.

Preemptive training and security measures are critical to ensuring Jewish schools remain safe, said Masters. “It’s absolutely vital that we work to be prepared,” he said. “This week, we read the parsha of the story of Noah. When did Noah build the ark? Before it began to rain.”

The Milken parent was not concerned about their child’s safety at school, even in the wake of the bomb threat. “Jewish schools tend to have higher-caliber security than at non-Jewish schools, so I’m not worried,” the parent said. “I don’t feel like it’s unsafe for my son to go there. He had no problem going to school yesterday or today.”

This article originally appeared on JTA.org.

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