Police arrested Avraham Hadi, a Ramat Gan man in his 40s, on Thursday on suspicion of smashing the glass entrance doors of the Channel 12 News building in Tel Aviv and leaving a threatening letter at the newsroom entrance.
The arrest came two days after the attack and followed a joint investigation by the Tel Aviv District Central Unit, the Shin Bet, and the Ayalon District Crime Fighting Unit. Police announced the development after details of the investigation were cleared for publication.
The incident occurred overnight between Monday and Tuesday. Early Tuesday morning, police officers patrolling the area discovered that the entrance doors to the building on Sderot HaHaskala Street in Tel Aviv had been smashed.
Investigators find threatening letter at the crime scene
A few meters away, officers found an unusual threatening letter targeting media figures and public officials.
"Until you apologize for the Sde Teiman affair, I am not stopping. Next time, the brick will be aimed at one of your sharks, male or female. Even an apology without sincerity is fine. Treat this letter with due gravity and complete seriousness. It would be a shame if someone ends up dying," Hadi wrote.
Hadi then listed numerous senior figures from Israel’s defense establishment, judiciary, and media. They included former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, former IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi, Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth, Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak, Yair Golan, former military advocate-general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the Haaretz newspaper, and others.
The letter ended with the words, "God's judgment will exact punishment from all of you."
Police suspect that Hadi threw stones at the building’s doors, shattered the glass, and fled the scene after leaving the threatening letter behind.
Unusual incidents targeting Israeli media organizations
In recent days, investigators from the Tel Aviv District Central Unit, working with the Ayalon District Crime Fighting Unit and the Shin Bet, used a range of intelligence and investigative measures that led to the Hadi's identification. He was arrested Thursday and taken in for questioning.
The arrest follows a series of unusual incidents targeting Israeli media organizations. Earlier this month, the entrance doors to the same building were smashed after security cameras recorded an unidentified person throwing a brick at the glass and fleeing the scene. Despite the footage, no arrests were made at the time.
Stones were also thrown at the offices of Haaretz. Due to the severity of the incidents, the Shin Bet joined the investigation led by the Tel Aviv District Central Unit.
Investigators are now trying to determine whether the suspect was responsible only for the latest incident or was connected to the series of attacks against media organizations over the past month.