Jarrad Saffren and Zoe Bell | WJW Staff

Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and James Lankford, R-Okla., introduced the Jewish American Security Act in May after two days of advocacy on the part of Jewish federations across the country.

Led by national advocacy groups including the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Federations of North America, the act aims to increase funding for the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $1 billion, require large social media platforms to regularly report on content moderation practices, and require schools to maintain well-publicized non-discrimination policies and grievance procedures, among other measures, according to an AJC news release.

If passed, the legislation will mobilize resources and institutions to fight antisemitism on every major front: physical locations, the internet/social media and schools. It is nothing short of a national agenda for the Jewish future, according to local federation leaders who lobbied in Washington for it.

“This advocacy comes at a time when antisemitism and threats against Jewish institutions have reached alarming levels,” a news release by the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington read.

The bill was intentionally introduced two days before the first anniversary of the Capital Jewish Museum shooting, which occurred after an AJC event in Washington. Last year saw a series of violent antisemitic incidents on U.S. soil: that fatal shooting, the arson attack at the governor’s mansion against Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and the Molotov cocktails thrown at the Run for Their Lives demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado. Those incidents were followed in early 2026 by the truck-ramming at the synagogue in suburban Detroit.

Also in 2025, the Anti-Defamation League tracked 6,274 antisemitic incidents nationwide. While this was down from 2024’s record of 9,354, it was still the third-highest total since the ADL began keeping track in 1979. This general environment was corroborated by an AJC survey released earlier this year which found that 91% of American Jewish respondents said they felt less safe after the publicized attacks such as the Capital Jewish Museum shooting. Nearly three-fourths of respondents indicated they had experienced antisemitism online.

All of these trends underscored the need for the Jewish American Security Act, according to AJC CEO Ted Deutch.

“No American should need a security perimeter to pray. No American should be afraid to leave their home or visit a cultural center of their choosing. Yet, that is exactly what Jews in this country are experiencing every day,” Deutch said in a statement. “We are at an inflection point. Surging antisemitism is not just a threat to the Jewish community; it is a crisis for our democracy and the values we cherish as Americans — pluralism, religious freedom, and the promise of equal protection.”

“This bill would strengthen protection in schools, expand security support for communal institutions, and require greater transparency around antisemitism on major online platforms,” Meredith Jacobs, the CEO of Jewish Women International and a Rockville resident, said in a statement. “We’re proud to endorse it.”

In supporting and advocating for the bill, Jewish groups were united. The coalition included nonpartisan groups, such as AJC and Jewish Federations of North America; partisan groups such as the Jewish Democratic Council of America and the Republican Jewish Coalition; and denominational groups, such as the Orthodox Union, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Union for Reform Judaism.

There was consensus across the American Jewish world on the national agenda for the Jewish future.

“It’s really important that this bill gets approved and the dollars get funded,” said Gil Preuss, the CEO of JFGW, adding that the D.C.-area Jewish community spends $13 or $14 million annually on security.

“There is now something we call the ‘Jewish tax,’ which is the hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars a year that the Jewish community is having to invest in security,” Rabbi Jonah Pesner, the director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, which worked with Rosen for months crafting the bill’s language, told Washington Jewish Week. “And it’s only because we’re Jews.”

He added that many Christian churches don’t have to pay for security.

“Every dollar that we have to invest in security, in bunkers, in cameras, is a dollar we’re not spending on Torah study, on Jewish identity, on Jewish joy,” Pesner said. “It’s also a dollar we’re not spending on community service that many synagogues and JCCs and Federations do.”

During the Detroit synagogue attack in March — at the largest Reform congregation in North America — an armed security guard prevented what “could have become the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11,” according to a JFNA statement.

While nearly every Jewish American community has been impacted by the need for enhanced security, D.C. is particularly higher-risk in terms of antisemitic threats, according to Preuss.

“Being the nation’s capital, we tend to have ongoing threats, not only from the local population, but people visiting this city from elsewhere,” Preuss said, referencing the Capital Jewish Museum shooter, who flew into D.C. from Chicago before killing two Israeli Embassy aides in May 2025. “[The Jewish American Security Act] is vital, given the challenges we face and it’s vital for every Jewish community around the country.”

Preuss met with senators and members of Congress to explain the importance of the act, and said he found the elected officials to be largely responsive. In total, about 400 Federation leaders from 82 communities took to Capitol Hill for the “fly-in,” as it was called in press materials.

“I think there was broad understanding and support,” Preuss said. “Now, the question is, [how] does that translate into actual legislation and dollar amounts?”

While the Federation’s lobbying was positively received, members of Congress and their staffs can’t commit to supporting a bill until they’ve read it, according to Russell Silberglied, a past president of the Jewish Federation of Delaware, who represented the state’s delegation in D.C. That’s why the push needs to continue.

“With the rise of hate and antisemitism on the left and the right, we really think the legislation needs to be passed and then enforced to reduce that,” Preuss said. “It’s an American national responsibility, and passing the legislation will highlight that, as opposed to saying that this is a Jewish community responsibility.”

jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com
zbell@midatlanticmedia.com