Will he be extradited?
Truth is suddenly far weirder than fiction. With Thursday’s blockbuster and bewildering announcement that the main suspect behind bomb threats against Jewish communities in the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand is none other than an 18-year-old
dual American Israeli living in the Ashkelon area, one of the eventual question will be: Will he be extradited?
In some ways, it is way too early to ask this question.
Right now, the suspect is just a suspect and the investigation is ongoing. Also, Israel has said it will indict him in an Israeli court.
But could he be indicted in other countries at the same time and be extradited?
The first principle in extradition is there is no double jeopardy.
You cannot try someone for the same crime in multiple countries.
Second, Israel has jurisdiction that would allow it to try the suspect for crimes where the “effects” – the bomb threats – were in other countries, provided the crimes were connected enough to Israel – which they were, since the suspect allegedly perpetrated all of his fake warnings from Israel using his telephone, computer and cyber capabilities.
So it would appear that he will probably be brought to trial in Israel and not elsewhere.
Also, police did not know of any extradition request on the table as of Thursday.
That said, the FBI was involved in a big way in helping Israel trace and catch the suspect, and most of the fake-bomb threats hurt the US and its citizens.
If applicable US laws might make it easier to get a conviction or entail a stricter punishment, it is possible Israel could decide to prosecute some crimes here, but allow the US or others to take the lead in prosecuting other crimes – all of which could lead to extradition.
In that sense, the main question regarding extradition will be what is tactically the best move. •