American German citizen charged with trying to firebomb U.S. Embassy office in Israel

NEW YORK — A dual U.S. German citizen has been arrested on charges that he traveled to Israel and attempted to firebomb the branch office of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, officials said Sunday.

Federal prosecutors in New York said Joseph Neumeyer walked up to the embassy building on May 19 with a backpack containing Molotov cocktails but got into a confrontation with a guard and ran off, dropping his backpack as the guard tried to grab him.

Law enforcement tracked Neumeyer at a hotel a few blocks away from the embassy and arrested him, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York.

The attempted attack took place against the backdrop of Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, now in its 20th month.

Neumeyer, 28, who is originally from Colorado and also has German citizenship, had traveled from the U.S. to Canada in early February and arrived in Israel in late April, according to court records. He had written a series of threatening social media posts before attempting the attack, prosecutors said.

Israeli officials deported Neumeyer to New York on Saturday, and he had an initial court appearance before a federal judge in Brooklyn on Sunday, the same day his criminal complaint was unsealed.

Neumeyer’s court-appointed attorney, Jeff Dahlberg, declined to comment.

During his first term, President Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital despite Palestinian objections and moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the contested city. The U.S. Embassy continues to operate a branch office in Tel Aviv.