U.S. Tourist Held on Suspicion of Letter Bomb Mailings to U.S. Officials

Police today identified a 22-year-old American tourist arrested on suspicion of mailing letter bombs in Israel as Dennis Feinstein of Stockton, Calif. Feinstein was arrested last Tuesday near the Lebanese border shortly after letter bombs addressed to President Nixon, Secretary of State William P. Rogers and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird were discovered in the post office at Kiryat Shemona, an Israeli village near the border.

The suspect was held by order of a Safed magistrate and was remanded in custody following a hearing Friday at the request of police. His name was withheld until today. Police have given no indication so far as to why Feinstein was arrested in connection with the letter bombs except for the fact that he was attempting to cross into Lebanon. He was observed by an Israeli soldier acting suspiciously near the border.

LETTER BOMB ENVELOPE MADE IN ISRAEL

Feinstein reportedly told police that he arrived in Israel about 10 days ago, stayed with a cousin in Jerusalem, then at a hotel and also spent time at a yeshiva. The youth reportedly told police who apprehended him that he was on a “holy mission” and was “doing the work of God.” Police admitted that his arrest on the day the letter bombs were discovered at Kiryat Shemona was coincidental but contended that his connection with the booby-trapped letters could not be ruled out.

Police disclosed Friday that the explosives and detonating devices in the three letters had been inserted into envelopes made in Israel. They said they found numbers on the envelopes, the figures 21, 42 and 43 which pointed to the possibility that they might be numbers on a list for additional letter bombs. Israeli officials said they assumed that letter bombs in Israel-made envelopes may have been sent from Israel and have warned other countries of that possibility.