Pro-Palestinian activist files lawsuit alleging threats weeks before bomb plot foiled

A pro-Palestinian activist whose home was the target of an earlier bombing plot had filed a federal lawsuit accusing a right-wing Israeli group of orchestrating threats and intimidation against him.

Weeks before authorities arrested a New Jersey man accused of planning a Molotov cocktail attack on his home, activist Nerdeen Kiswani filed a lawsuit against the Betar Zionist Organization and several of its leaders under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a Reconstruction-era law designed to combat KKK violence.

Kiswani’s lawsuit, filed on February 26, alleges a months-long campaign of stalking, intimidation and racist threats, including offering cash rewards to anyone who physically harmed him and repeatedly confronting him at protests in New York City.

Kiswani, founder of the pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime, has organized protests across New York City in support of Palestinians in Gaza, including camping at universities demanding their removal from Israel.

Among the incidents described in the complaint, the group, also referred to in the lawsuit as Betar USA, allegedly offered $1,000 in January 2025 to any member of the public who could provide Kiswani with a “beeper” – an apparent reference to the Israeli military in September 2024 when pagers and other electronic devices exploded in Lebanon, killing and injuring many.

Members of Betar USA also confronted Kiswani at protests and urged the Trump administration to strip him of his US citizenship, sending his name to federal authorities for that purpose, according to the lawsuit.

Betar USA did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

The two cases underscore the growing tensions since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023 and how that climate has contributed to violent actions in the US.

On Thursday, Alexander Heifler was arrested and charged with possession of destructive material and manufacturing destructive material, according to a complaint filed in the US District Court of New Jersey. The NYPD said it identified and disrupted the plot.

The charges each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Court documents describe an undercover NYPD officer participating in a video call in February in which Heifler asked the group where he could throw “Molotovs,” according to the complaint. In the weeks that followed, Heifler met with the officer in person and allegedly shared the home address of his intended attacker, as well as information about vehicles parked outside the residence. The complaint does not identify Kiswani by name.

Heifler allegedly planned to flee the country after the attack and intended to wear gloves to avoid leaving DNA evidence, according to the complaint.

When law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at his home on Thursday – the same day he met again with an undercover officer – they found eight Molotov cocktails. An FBI bomb expert found devices with ethanol as an ignition accelerator.

Heifler is suspected of working with the Jewish Defense League, which the FBI has classified as a right-wing terrorist organization.

In a statement that did not reveal Heifler’s name, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said that a suspected member of the Jewish Defense League was arrested for threatening Kiswani. He called the threat “an aggravated act of political violence.”

Heifler’s court-appointed attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent Saturday evening.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey said in a statement that the investigation is ongoing but that “there is no immediate threat to the public.”

In a statement sent to X, Kiswani said he was informed on Thursday night by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force of a plot against his life that was “about to be carried out”.

“For months, Zionist organizations like Betar … have been inciting violence against my family and me,” Kiswani wrote in a statement, adding that he “will not stop speaking for the Palestinian people.”

Kiswani’s lawyers say he has been targeted by right wing members and “extremist Zionist groups and individuals” for several years in what they describe as an attempt to silence him.

“Their encouragement of physical violence against him has now resulted in an attempt to take his life,” read a statement from law firm Lee & Godshall-Bennett. “Those who caused this act of terrorism must be held accountable. Regardless of their opinion, everyone who cares about our freedom to express our opinions and beliefs must stand with Nerdeen unequivocally.”