On June 25, nearly 400 Jewish communal leaders from over 100 communities across the country gathered in Washington, D.C. for the Jewish Federations of North America’s United for Security emergency fly-in. The goal: to bring the urgent message that the Jewish community needs greater support for security funding directly to the halls of Congress.

We were honored to join senior lay leaders from JFGI and JCRC in representing Indiana at this critical event. Over a day and a half, we traversed Capitol Hill, meeting with Indiana’s congressional delegation and their staff in ten separate meetings, making the case to increase funding for the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) to $1 billion.

The last eight weeks have been extraordinarily difficult for the American Jewish community. It began with the firebombing of a governor’s residence, followed by the murder of two young professionals outside a diplomatic event, and most recently a Molotov cocktail attack on peaceful demonstrators calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. These horrific incidents did not occur in distant places — they happened in Harrisburg, Washington, D.C., and Boulder — and all targeted individuals because they were Jewish or perceived to be Jewish.

These attacks did not emerge in a vacuum. They come after months of escalating rhetoric — on campuses, in our streets, and online — urging people to “Globalize the Intifada.” We know that the intifadas were periods of violent terrorism that left thousands of Israeli civilians dead or injured. To globalize that violence is no mere metaphor. Here in Indiana, we’ve also faced dozens of antisemitic leaflet drops by white supremacist groups and seen antisemitic incident reports spike over the last year according to the Anti-Defamation League. And all of this comes while tensions rise amid concerns over the war with Iran and the threat of international terrorism.

We are feeling squeezed from all sides. As members of the Jewish community, we are grieving, fearful, and deeply concerned. But as communal professionals, we also have a responsibility to act. Ensuring our community’s safety is a duty we take seriously. By meeting directly with our elected officials, sharing data, discussing how security needs strain our budgets, and conveying what it feels like to enter our synagogues and community centers under armed guard, we underscored why increased funding for the NSGP is essential.

Our safety is non-negotiable — and last week, we believe our members of Congress heard that message loud and clear.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Miriam Dant, JFGI Co-President; Larry Turow, JFGI Treasurer; Eli Isaacs, JCRC President; and Caryl Auslander, Principal at Torchbearer Public Affairs, for joining us at the fly-in and advocating alongside us.

Marc Swatez
CEO, JFGI

David Sklar
Executive Director, JCRC