A bipartisan group of Congress members on Tuesday called for increasing funds for protecting synagogues and other houses of worship.
Sens. James Lankford, Oklahoma Republican, and Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, and Reps. Chris Smith, New Jersey Republican, and Kathy Manning, North Carolina Democrat, called for more funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
Ms. Manning called for increasing the NSGP to $360 million in fiscal 2024, up from $305 million in the current fiscal year, during a security briefing organized by the Jewish Federations of North America, the Secure Community Network, the Anti-Defamation League and the Orthodox Union, among other Jewish groups.
The meeting was held Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center days before the observance of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and a 10-day period of introspection leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
According to figures released by the Anti-Defamation League in March, antisemitic incidents in the United States last year hit a record-high total of 3,697, including 91 bomb threats.
The Secure Community Network, a private group that tracks threats to Jewish institutions, identified more than 4,400 “risk events” in the last year, CEO Michael Masters said at the Capitol Hill briefing.
Mr. Murphy, who chairs the Senate subcommittee that oversees the Department of Homeland Security, reported “a doubling of antisemitic incidents” in Connecticut from 2021 to 2022.
“We should acknowledge that the threat to Jewish communities is different, and we should treat it as different,” he said. “But the tools that we use to try to root out hate and the violence that springs from hate have common threads.”
Mr. Smith told the briefing that education is vital in combating antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric.
“The bias is so thick, you can cut it with a knife, and we’re doing what we can to fight it,” he said.
Mr. Lankford called for a broader adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism across government.
That definition states: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
“The most basic principle is ‘What are we doing to be able to push back on antisemitism?’ That’s our first priority in this,” Mr. Lankford said.
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.