Hundreds of Jewish leaders convened in the nation’s capital June 25 and 26 to ask Congress and the Trump administration to act to protect Jewish Americans nationwide from violence.
The nearly 400 Jewish leaders from more than 100 major Jewish organizations across the country who participated in emergency meetings had one message: “Jewish security cannot wait.”
The Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations led the United for Security Emergency Leadership Mission in response to the recent attacks targeting Jewish events in Washington, D.C., and Boulder, Colorado.
“We are facing an unprecedented situation in American Jewish history where every Jewish institution and event is a potential target for antisemitic violence,” Eric Fingerhut, JFNA’s CEO and president, said in a press release.
He added that the safety and security of the Jewish community must be elected officials’ top priority going forward.
“Whatever other issues the Jewish community may care about, whatever differing opinions we may hold on some of those issues, we are united for security,” Fingerhut said.
In more than 200 meetings on Capitol Hill, advocates pushed for a six-point security policy plan for the Jewish community:
- Increase the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $1 billion annually
- Provide federal support for security personnel costs for synagogues and Jewish institutions
- Expand FBI resources to fight the “domestic and global war on terror”
- Fund local law enforcement to protect Jewish institutions
- Regulate hate speech and “incitement to violence” on social media
- Enforce and prosecute existing hate crime legislation
The $1 billion will provide Jewish institutions with “hardened” security and increased personnel, according to Gil Preuss, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. He added that it could cost up to $150,000 for a synagogue to hire a full-time security guard.
“Those expenses — particularly as the threats [and] attacks against the Jewish community have increased — are just skyrocketing,” Preuss said.
Groups of advocates met with their representatives, sharing personal experiences about their local Jewish communities’ security concerns with members of the Senate and House representing Maryland and Virginia.
Guila Franklin Siegel, the chief operating officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, led a meeting with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) about increased funding for security grants. She cited the recent instance of assault and disorderly conduct at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville to emphasize the importance of security funding.
“That incident would not have ended well without the off-duty police officers who were there, and that cost [of having police officers onsite] is supplanted by government security grants,” Siegel said.
Jennifer Zwilling, the CEO of the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center, discussed security funding from the perspective of a local leader.
“The level of preparedness we have to have every day, I think, is one I doubt most YMCAs, movie theaters or pools think about, honestly,” Zwilling told ABC7 in an interview.
Also in attendance were leaders from Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County, Agudas Achim of Northern Virginia, Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School and CESJDS.
“We wanted to really amplify a range of voices from the community, bringing a practical, real-world lens to the security crisis that we’re facing,” Siegel said.
Siegel said she felt Van Hollen was supportive and receptive to the group.
“I think people felt very moved and energized,” she added. “People, at least from our delegation, felt the discussions were all very positive, very empathetic and very action-driven. We were encouraged by the reception we received from our elected officials and empowered because we have all been watching with horror these lethal events unfold.”
Preuss similarly said he “absolutely” felt supported.
“One of the most important points to me is that one of the most basic duties of a government is to protect its citizens,” Preuss said. “Every conversation that I was in, people understood that … in the current context, the American government is failing to do that for the Jewish community.
“[The representatives] understood that and they understood the concerns raised by the Jewish community and were supportive of our efforts to address them.”
Jewish Washington may experience “more significant” threats compared to other Jewish communities, Preuss said.
“Because this is the nation’s capital, people come here for a variety of reasons — to protest and to express their anger and frustration,” he said. “I believe that we are under greater threat as a community [in D.C.]”
As Siegel said, “It’s good to be able to, as leaders, take concrete action in response.”
Following the meetings, Siegel said she and the JCRC team plan to follow up with the representatives in the near future and provide more information on the need for security funding. She said she feels that the advocacy was successful — and that members of Congress will soon act effectively to better protect the Jewish community — in large part because of the event’s narrow focus.
“We came together from all over the country, so many communities, so many different national agencies, all with a unified purpose and message,” Siegel said.
