Ahead of the High Holidays, a coalition of major Jewish organizations came to Capitol Hill Wednesday to urge Congress to address the American Jewish community’s safety concerns.

 

Under the banner “United for Security,” Jewish Federations of North America, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Secure Community Network (SCN), Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, and Orthodox Union took part in the event appealed directly to Congress for help in addressing the unprecedented spike in antisemitic incidents plaguing Jewish communities. The costs of protecting the Jewish community collectively have soared to $765 million.

 

“The High Holidays are the time of year when everyone focuses on Jewish security because it's our largest time of gathering together as a community, but security is a year-round problem,” said Jewish Federations of North America President and CEO Eric Fingerhut. “Our message today is that as much as we appreciate how Congress has strongly supported Jewish security through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, we are at a moment of extreme peril that requires comprehensive action, and that’s what our six-point plan is all about.”

 

The six-point plan, formulated following the murder of two innocents at the Capitol Jewish Museum in May, lays out concrete steps that the federal government can take to protect the Jewish community: increase Nonprofit Security Grant program (NSGP) funding; dedicate funding for additional security personnel; increase the FBI’s domestic terrorism intelligence capabilities; increase funds for local law enforcement; prosecute hate crimes and extremist violence; and hold online platforms accountable.

 

This annual security briefing consisted of panel discussions moderated by Jake Sherman, co-founder of Punchbowl News, and featured a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers - including Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), James Lankford (R-OK), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) - and Jewish communal leaders.

 

One area of common concern was the role that the internet plays in fueling antisemitism and violence.

 

“Congress must focus on holding social media, gaming, messaging, and other online platforms accountable for the amplification of antisemitic hate, glorification of terrorism, extremism, disinformation, and incitement,” said Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations CEO William Daroff. “We have seen that social media is fanning the flames of this hate that is psychologically harmful to Jews and leads to radicalization. Cracking down on that digital hate is an area where the federal government can really move the needle.”

 

“Today’s convening underscores the importance of our collective commitment to security and preparedness, and the generational impact it will have for our community. As we approach the sacred High Holidays, we must remember that we are strongest when we are united, vigilant, and unapologetic in our embrace of Judaism and faith-based life, ” said Michael Masters, SCN National Director & CEO. “Recent weeks have demonstrated that collaborative, layered security is essential both within and beyond the Jewish community, as those targeting us increasingly blur the lines between politically and religiously motivated violence. We cannot afford to operate in silos.”

 

Orthodox Union EVP Rabbi Moshe Hauer discussed the importance of both protecting free speech and knowing when hate speech crosses the line into violence, saying: “No one values freedom of speech like the Jewish community. We also understand that there's a line where it crosses from protected speech to unprotected speech, speech that imprisons, that frightens, that intimidates, which creates the hostile environments referenced in title six. Congress has a role in clarifying and in enforcing where those limits are.”

 

“In our 2024 audit ADL recorded 9354 incidents. This is unprecedented. We have been tracking data for more than 40 years, and yet for the first time in a generation, we are seeing antisemitism at this level that is terrifying,” said ADL Vice President of Government Relations Carmiel Arbit. “This is a trend that we've been seeing in the aftermath of October 7, and it is a trend that we see continuing. With that kind of bleak picture, I think it's really important to talk about what we're doing to protect the community in this moment.”

 

To watch the livestream on Facebook, click here.

 

For photos from the event, click here (Credit: Jewish Federations of North America/Chris Williams).