Nerdeen Kiswani speaks during a protest commemorating Nakba Day on May 15, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Credit: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - A New Jersey man who planned to firebomb the home of a prominent Palestinian activist was arrested Thursday following a weekslong undercover operation led by the New York City Police Department, according to officials and court papers.
The New York Times was the first media outlet to report the news.
Assassination plot targeting Nerdeen Kiswani disrupted
Big picture view:
According to law enforcement officials, the plot was to firebomb the New York City home of the prominent Palestinian activist Nerdeen Kiswani.
Officials notified Kiswani and her legal team late Thursday that one or more arrests had been made in connection with the imminent attempt on her life.
What they're saying:
"Late last night the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force informed me that a plot against my life that was ‘about to’ take place, and that agents had conducted an operation in Hoboken related to this plot," Kiswani said in a statement on the social media platform X, linking the Times story. "For months, Zionist organizations like Betar and politicians like Randy Fine have encouraged violence against my family and me. I will have more to say as additional details come to light. I will not stop speaking up for the people of Palestine. Thank you for your support."
She said she was told that the man, Alexander Heifler, had been apprehended.
Who is Alexander Heifler?
Dig deeper:
An official who was briefed on the investigation said Heifler, 26, identified as a member of the JDL 613 Brotherhood, a New Jersey-based group founded in 2024 that describes its membership as "Jewish warriors" fighting back against rising antisemitism.
A website for the group says they are inspired by the original Jewish Defense League, a group linked to numerous bombings and attempted assassinations of Arab American political activists in the 1970s and 1980s.
Heifler planned to flee to Israel following the attack, according to the official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details of an ongoing investigation.
An email inquiry sent to the JDL 613 was not returned.
Federal authorities said they had arrested Heifler as he was assembling Molotov cocktails that he planned to throw at Kiswani’s home. For weeks, he had discussed the plot with an undercover NYPD detective who had infiltrated a group chat used by Heifler, according to a police department spokesperson.
Kiswani was targeted for her pro-Palestinian views, the spokesperson added.
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Heifler was charged in a criminal complaint with separate counts of making and possessing destructive devices, which each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. An online court docket did not list a lawyer for him and inquiries to possible relatives were not returned. He was expected to make an initial appearance in New Jersey federal court on Friday afternoon.
According to the complaint, Heifler spoke on a video call in February with a group that included an undercover detective about his interest in training for "self-defense" and wanting space where he could throw Molotov cocktails.
The next day, he met with the undercover detective in person and discussed his plan to use them against Kiswani and flee the country, according to the complaint. "We have (Kiswani's) address," Heifler allegedly told the undercover. "So it’s like that, that would be easier if you’d be more comfortable with that."
Heifler and the undercover detective drove to Kiswani’s residence on March 4 to "conduct surveillance" and discussed making a dozen Molotov cocktails to throw at her home and two cars parked outside, the complaint said.
On Thursday, the undercover detective and Heifler met at Heifler’s Hoboken residence, where he had assembled components to make the Molotov cocktails, including a large bottle of Everclear, a highly flammable alcohol, the complaint said. Law enforcement officers then executed a search warrant at the residence and recovered the eight Molotov cocktails, the complaint said.
"I feel very blessed that they were able to thwart this, but it’s something that is a constant possibility for people who speak up on behalf of Palestine," the 31-year-old said.
The Source: This story was reported from Los Angeles. The New York Times, The Associated Press contributed.