US Jewish security group forms law enforcement advisory council

Former officers to liaise with authorities amid waves of threats against JCCs, acts of vandalism

NEW YORK — Following repeated waves of anti-Semitic attacks, the group tasked with advising Jewish institutions on security has formed a national advisory council composed of former law enforcement officers.

The Secure Community Network, which has led the effort to respond to five waves of bomb threats to Jewish community centers nationwide, formed the SCN Security Advisory Council on Thursday. The council will strengthen communication between SCN and law enforcement, and provide expertise in specific areas such as cyber threats and prosecution of terrorists.

“We will provide strategic guidance to SCN and also assist in strengthening SCN’s critical partnership with federal, state and local law enforcement and community leaders across the country,” said council chairman Alejandro Mayorkas, a former deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, speaking to reporters on a conference call.

“The Security Advisory Council will have members from all of these levels of government, who have tremendous expertise working in these communities across the country.”

The council currently has seven members and plans to add more. Along with Mayorkas, it includes two other former deputy Homeland Security secretaries, along with the former homeland security chief of Cook County, Illinois, which includes Chicago. The remaining three members are a former National Security Agency official, a retired colonel with 30 years of military experience and Paul Goldenberg, SCN’s director.

Goldenberg said on the conference call that the FBI “has put tremendous assets” into investigating the bomb threats and expressed confidence the perpetrators would be caught. He added that he does not expect that US Jewish communities will need to take the kinds of precautions adopted by European Jews, such as posting armed soldiers outside Jewish institutions.

“The relationship here with American law enforcement is very mature,” Goldenberg said. “The American Jewish community is very much part of the fabric of life here in the United States.”

At least 100 Jewish community centers and schools in 33 states have reported bomb and other threats since the start of the year.

Last weekend, vandals broke and overturned more than 500 gravestones at a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia.

The attack came a week after more than 100 headstones were damaged at a Jewish cemetery in St Louis, Missouri. The incident prompted a visit by Vice President Mike Pence.

On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it was advising Jewish communities and offering protective measures.

“In light of the nature of the threats to Jewish Community Centers, I have directed DHS to heighten our outreach and support to enhance public safety,” DHS head John Kelly said.

DHS advisors will offer support “in terms of training, protective measures, exercises and information sharing,”said Kelly.

US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has condemned the wave of bomb threats but has also suggested they were part of a potential false flag operation designed “to make people — or to make others — look bad,” according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro who said Trump gave the remark during a meeting on Tuesday.