Man suspected of planning Israel embassy attack arrested in Germany

German authorities have arrested a man with suspected ties to the extremist group Islamic State who was allegedly planning an attack on the Israeli Embassy.

The man was detained on Saturday in Bernau, a town just outside Berlin.

“Our security authorities struck in time to thwart possible plans to attack the Israeli embassy in Berlin,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said. “This shows that protecting Jewish and Israeli institutions in our country is vital and of the utmost importance to us.”

The German news agency dpa reported that the suspect was expected to be brought before an investigating judge at the country’s highest court, the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, on Sunday.

Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor thanked the German security authorities “for ensuring the security of our embassy”, dpa reported.

News of the case first came from the Bild newspaper, which reported that a heavily armed elite police unit stormed the suspect’s flat in Bernau and that police also raided a flat in the western German town of Sankt Augustin in connection with the case.