In recent months, a man from the Afula area repeatedly called police and reported a series of suspected terrorist threats. Among other things, he reported a terrorist who had allegedly been seen near a kindergarten and another who was allegedly planning to carry out an attack at Afula’s central bus station.
The reports sounded credible and were highly detailed, repeatedly prompting police deployments, only for officers to discover that the reports were false.
Each of the alarming reports pointed to a different target - on one occasion the central bus station, on another the train station, and in another case a sheikh at a mosque.
A police source said: “For several months now, we have been receiving reports from a certain individual claiming that several people intend to carry out an attack. All of the reports concern the city of Afula.
“Every such report requires the police to treat it as though it represents a genuine danger. We take the matter seriously every time. We understand that it could be an initial warning of a security incident, and therefore, out of concern that such an incident may be underway, we deploy forces throughout the entire sector."
The wave of reports began in early 2025 and continued through late August. At least five separate incidents were directly linked to the same source.
The police investigation reached a turning point when investigators succeeded in connecting the various incidents and determined that despite the use of fictitious names and changing stories, all of the calls had been made from the same telephone line.
The investigation led to the arrest of the suspect, a 35-year-old resident of Ein Mahil who works as a bus driver. He was arrested by Northern District police on suspicion of the felony offense of providing false information, and a court extended his detention.
Police are continuing to investigate the motive behind his series of false terror alerts.