Colorado Man Charged After Incident In Tel Aviv
On May 19, Tel Aviv nearly became the site of a devastating attack, according to explosive new charges unveiled by the U.S. Department of Justice.
A man with dual U.S.-German citizenship, Joseph Neumeyer, now stands accused of attempting to firebomb the U.S. embassy’s branch office in Israel—a crime that could send him to prison for up to 20 years and saddle him with a $250,000 fine.
Born in Colorado and radicalized abroad, Neumeyer allegedly appeared at the embassy’s employee entrance in Tel Aviv wielding a backpack containing what authorities describe as at least one Molotov cocktail.
The encounter escalated quickly. He reportedly spat at a guard, cursed at him, and managed to escape—abandoning his bag in the process. That bag would soon become the centerpiece of a federal investigation.
Law enforcement moved swiftly. Within hours, Neumeyer was tracked to a nearby hotel. There, he reportedly confirmed his identity and admitted the contents of his backpack. But it wasn’t just the physical evidence that painted a picture of intent.
FBI investigators unearthed disturbing posts on a Facebook account they say belonged to Neumeyer. In a series of chilling status updates, he allegedly wrote, “Join me this afternoon in Tel Aviv—we are burning down the US embassy,” and “Death to America, death to Americans, and f— the west.”
These statements, posted just hours before the attempted attack, echoed earlier threats. In March, Neumeyer allegedly targeted President Donald Trump and Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk with violent messages on the same platform. He left the United States in February, traveled to Canada, and then made his way to Israel by mid-May.
Neumeyer’s arrest comes at a volatile moment. Just days earlier, another case shook the diplomatic world. Elias Rodriguez, a 31-year-old socialist activist from Chicago, was charged with murdering two Israeli embassy staff at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. FBI officials described the attack as anti-Semitic and ideologically driven. Rodriguez reportedly proclaimed, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” after his arrest.
The U.S. government’s response to both incidents has been unequivocal. FBI Director Kash Patel condemned the Tel Aviv plot as “despicable and violent,” vowing justice. U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi echoed the sentiment, promising full prosecution and a hard line on political violence at home and abroad.