Bomb threat forces evacuation of Jewish preschool in Florida

South Florida Jewish preschool was evacuated. Students at a nearby yeshiva high school were ordered to remain in their classrooms.

By World Israel News Staff 

A Jewish preschool in Boca Raton, Florida, was evacuated Monday afternoon following a bomb threat, prompting a major police response and disruptions at nearby educational facilities.

The threat targeted the Betty and Marvin Zale Early Childhood Learning Center, located at 9801 Donna Klein Boulevard, on the campus of the Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office dispatched deputies to the scene after receiving reports of a telephone bomb threat. Authorities evacuated the preschool and searched the premises while restricting access to the surrounding area.

At least one other nearby educational facility was also evacuated, while students at Katz Yeshiva High School were instructed to remain inside their classrooms.

A student at the high school said an announcement over the school’s loudspeaker informed students about the threat at the neighboring preschool.

“They told us we needed to stay inside for a while,” the student told The Jerusalem Post, describing how authorities had blocked traffic and prevented vehicles from entering the area.

The Levis Jewish Community Center subsequently announced that the sheriff’s office had determined there was no credible threat.

In a statement following the incident, the center expressed gratitude to law enforcement personnel, campus security officers and school administrators for their response.

The center confirmed that “all students and staff remained safe throughout the incident” and that the children had been reunited with their families.

The antisemitism watchdog organization StopAntisemitism condemned the threat and called for those responsible to face prosecution.

The incident occurred just three days after two Jewish schools in Brooklyn, New York, were evacuated following bomb threats received within minutes of each other.

The Yeshivah of Flatbush Joel Braverman High School received a threatening telephone call Friday morning, followed approximately six minutes later by a similar call to the United Talmudical Academy in Williamsburg.

New York police deployed emergency service personnel and bomb-sniffing dogs to both locations. The schools were evacuated while officers conducted searches, but no explosives were discovered and the threats were declared unfounded.

A similar threat was also reported at an Orthodox synagogue in Lakewood, New Jersey, earlier in the week.

The incidents come amid continuing concerns over antisemitic threats against Jewish institutions across the United States.

According to the Anti-Defamation League’s annual audit, 6,274 antisemitic incidents were recorded nationwide in 2025. Although the figure represented a 33% decline from the previous year, it remained substantially higher than levels recorded before the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in Israel.

Federal hate crime statistics for 2025 also recorded 1,528 anti-Jewish incidents, accounting for approximately 63% of all reported religion-based hate crimes in the United States.