A state of emergency was briefly declared at the Israeli Consulate in New York on Friday after a suspect aroused the suspicions of security personnel.
The Consulate was closed off for a short time and Israeli officials were instructed not to leave.
The suspect’s appearance and strange behavior caused security personnel to suspect he could be carrying explosives. The suspect was quickly apprehended by guards and taken into police custody. The state of emergency was then lifted and the Consulate resumed regular activity.
The suspect was carrying what was described as “suspicious equipment” but upon his arrest it was determined that he was not carrying explosives.
Dani Dayan, Consul General of Israel in New York, tweeted, “A security alert was declared this morning in the Israeli Consulate General in New York. A suspect is now under NYPD custody. The staff is well. The morale is high.”
Last September, the Israeli Consulate in New York received two suspicious envelopes containing white powder within a span of several days.
One of those envelopes was received when Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu arrived in New York to address the UN General Assembly. The envelope also contained a threat to the prime minister.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)