An official told NBC News that investigators believe, based on the testimony of an informant, that the two JDL members thought it was necessary to “take a stand” by bombing a Los Angeles-area mosque.

JEWISH DEFENSE LEAGUE Chairman Irv Rubin, 56, and a member of the group, Earl Krugel, 59, both of Los Angeles, were arrested Tuesday night after the last component of the bomb — explosive powder —was delivered to Krugel’s home, U.S. Attorney John S. Gordon said. Other bomb components and weapons were seized at Krugel’s home.

Authorities said the plot targeted a mosque in Culver City and the ffice of Rep. Darrell Issa, a grandson of Lebanese immigrants.

Rubin and Krugel were to appear in court later Wednesday.
An official told NBC News that investigators believe, based on the testimony of an informant, that the two JDL members thought it was necessary to “take a stand” by bombing a Los Angeles-area mosque.

The complaint against them quotes Krugel as making a comment during a meeting that Arabs “need a wake-up call.”

Authorities were tipped off by a government source about a series of meetings where the scheme to bomb the King Fahd Mosque and Issa’s office was hammered out, Gordon said.
Issa played down the alleged plot to bomb his office as “an unusual act of a small band of criminals ... a very small fringe group that has been denounced by the Jewish world.”

The freshman Republican was joined by several Jewish lawmakers who decried the JDL and supported Issa. “They meet every definition of a terrorist group,” Rep. Jerry Nadler said of the JDL.

Issa, whose paternal grandfather was Lebanese, was apparently targeted because his heritage and a recent trip he made with other members of Congress to the Middle East in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. During the trip, Issa was initially was barred from an Air France flight because of suspicions aroused because of his surname.

The original target was to be the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles, but the target was changed during a meeting last weekend.

PLAN FOILED

“Prior to last night’s arrest, the source delivered explosive powder, the last component required to begin construction of the bomb, to Krugel’s residence,” the U.S. attorney’s office said. It wasn’t immediately clear when the alleged plot began.

“Irv Rubin never had anything to do with explosives,” Rubin’s attorney, Peter Morris, told The Associated Press. “It seems to us that, given the timing ... the government’s action is part of an overreaction to the Sept. 11 events.”
Matthew McLaughlin, an FBI spokesman in Los Angeles, said physical evidence was found.

“The tools might have been in place to do this thing,” he told AP. “We don’t put people in (custody) just for superficial impressions. We put people in place for their physical actions.”

“My husband and Earl are completely innocent of anything. They are law-abiding, good people,” Rubin’s wife, Shelley, said in a telephone interview with AP.

RESPONSE TO ANTI-SEMITISM

Law enforcement agencies raided a home identified by television stations as Krugel’s late Tuesday night. Footage showed officers carrying out weapons and cardboard boxes.

 
The Jewish Defense League was originally formed by Meir Kahane to mount armed response to anti-Semitic acts in New York City. It gained notoriety when its members were linked to bombings, most of them aimed at Soviet targets in retaliation for the way that country treated its Jewish population.

Kahane left the JDL and moved to Israel. A power struggle ensued, with Rubin among the contenders for its leadership.
Kahane was assassinated in New York in 1990. El Sayyid Nosair, 36, an Egyptian-born Muslim, was convicted in connection with the shooting.

NBC’s Pete Williams, Mike Viqueira and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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