Historical US Jewish veterans group partners with synagogue security outfit

A historical US Jewish veterans group on Wednesday partnered with an expanding synagogue security organization, passing on the torch in the effort to protect American Jewish communities.

The Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America announced the partnership with the Community Security Service in a joint statement and a press conference, citing the groups’ “shared history of service.”

“Together, we ensure that the courage and vigilance displayed by our veterans remain alive and active in our streets, synagogues, and communities,” Scott P. Stevens, the head of Jewish War Veterans, said in a statement.

The veterans group was established in 1896 by Jewish veterans of the US Civil War, and played a key role in opposing antisemitism in the US, leading a 1933 march in New York City against Nazi Germany that drew hundreds of thousands. The veterans also led a boycott of Nazi Germany and campaigned for the deportation of Nazis from the US, the group says on its website.

During World War II, the Jewish War Veterans supported Jewish troops on the front lines and lobbied for veterans after they came back to the US, and during the Cold War, opposed the Ku Klux Klan and McCarthyism targeting Jews.

The group’s ranks have dwindled in recent decades, though, while the Community Security Service has expanded across the US, as escalating antisemitism has spurred volunteers to train with the group to protect their communities.

Many members of the Jewish War Veterans have joined the Community Security Service themselves, bringing their military experience home to protect their synagogues, the groups said in the statement.

“The bravery and leadership members of the JWV demonstrated in both defending our country and standing up to existential dangers to the Jewish community is precisely what CSS volunteers aim to replicate against modern antisemitism today,” said Richard Priem, the CEO of the Community Security Service.

The partnership will have the groups encourage their members to join the other organization. The Community Security Service will open its training to the veterans to bring their military experience into the volunteer security network.

CSS hopes that some of the veterans will rise to leadership roles in the group, which operates out of local Jewish communities across the country.

CSS also has veterans in its ranks who will be encouraged to join the Jewish War Veterans.

Additionally, CSS will dispatch security guards to veterans’ events and provide security training to the veterans’ organization, which will, in turn, promote CSS events through its own network.