Joseph Neumeier, a German citizen, approached the building on May 19 with a Molotov cocktail, officials say.
The dual US and German citizens have been arrested on charges that he traveled to Israel and attempted to fire a branch of the US embassy in Tel Aviv, according to federal prosecutors in New York.
Israeli officials deported Joseph Neumeyer to New York on Saturday, and he appeared in the first courthouse before a federal judge in Brooklyn on Sunday. His criminal charges were sealed on Sunday.
Prosecutors say that Neumeyer went up to the embassy building on May 19 with a backpack containing a Molotov cocktail, but was in conflict with the guards and eventually escaped, dropping his backpack as the guard tried to rest him.
Law enforcement then tracked Neumeyer down to the hotel and arrested him for being a few blocks from the embassy, according to criminal charges filed in the Eastern District of New York.
“The defendant was charged with planning a catastrophic attack targeting an Israeli embassy and threatening death to Americans; [US] president [Donald] U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondy said in a statement. “The department will not tolerate such violence and will prosecute this defendant to the fullest extent of the law.”
Jeff Dahlberg, a court-appointed lawyer for Neumeyer, declined to comment.
The attack came against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing deadly war in Gaza, now in its 19th month. Nearly 54,000 Palestinians have been killed in the blocked enclave where hunger is looming, as Israeli forces continue to seal essential boundary intersections and support crippling humanitarian blockades such as food, medicine and fuel.
Neumeyer, 28, a Colorado native and dual citizenship in the US and Germany, traveled from the US to Canada in early February and arrived in Israel in late April, according to court records.
He had made a series of threatening social media posts before attempting an attack, prosecutors said.
During his first term, Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital despite Palestinian objections, in a move that has not been recognized by the international community. He also moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
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