Security forces nabbed a Palestinian Arab man who was harassing the Moked 100 police hotline, as was cleared for publication Friday morning. 

Judea-Samaria District Police had been tracking the suspect for several weeks, after he repeatedly called the hotline in that district and nationwide, leaving messages threatening to commit terror attacks.

Among the messages were threats he had a weapons cache in his possession, including guns and bombs. 

Police immediately began transferring the messages to security forces in the field, who arrested the man this week in the village of Sair, an area of known terrorist activity. 

During his interrogation, the suspect admitted to dozens of calls made at Moked 100 centers across the country; he also incriminated himself in being involved in rock-throwing and firebomb attacks against security forces in the sector. 

The arrest follows a wave of measures designed to crack down on prank calls to emergency hotlines. 

Last month, the police revealed to the press that its hotlines receive some 30,000 calls daily, overwhelming the Moked 100 service. To relieve part of that burden, commanders have urged the public not to make hotline calls based on rumor – and certainly not to report false claims.

One in five calls made to the Police’s 100 hotline turn out to be false, police revealed Friday, for a total of about two million calls per year; one in four calls to MDA do not deal with emergency situations at all. 

In both cases, callers usually use a blocking service to prevent emergency services for tracking the call, preventing the authorities from arresting offenders.