ISIS, protests, cybercrime: US Jewish security group warns of holiday threats
No known concrete dangers for American Jews during Hanukkah, but calls for attacks by extremist groups raise concerns
Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.
NEW YORK — US Jewish community security officials warned of threats during the holiday season, including lone-wolf attackers inspired by terror groups, disruptive anti-Israel protests and cybercrime.
“The holidays are a time when our adversaries generally have historically called for increased targeting and attacks,” said Michael Masters, the head of the Secure Community Network, which coordinates security for US Jewish groups. “That is playing out again this year.”
Jewish security officials urged Jewish communities to celebrate the holidays, but to practice vigilance and employ security measures. There are no known specific, concrete threats.
This year, Hanukkah coincides with Christmas and New Year’s. Large public gatherings related to the holidays present targets to attackers, SCN said in a security bulletin distributed to its staff and partner groups earlier this month. That threat was made evident by a ramming attack against a holiday market in Germany this week.
The gatherings, both Jewish and Christian, could become targets due to tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, the bulletin said. Terror groups including ISIS have encouraged attacks during the holidays in messages that could inspire lone-wolf assailants.
“When people are calling for violence, such as ISIS and al-Qaeda, all it takes is one individual to listen,” Masters told The Times of Israel in a Monday interview.
Last month, media affiliated with ISIS published a graphic showing a Christmas tree adorned with an ornament resembling a hand grenade and the words “Make it miserable.” Last week, the FBI arrested an ISIS and Hamas supporter for plotting an attack on the Israeli consulate in New York City, and in September, a suspect was arrested in Canada while attempting to enter the US to attack a Jewish site in Brooklyn in support of ISIS.
Hanukkah events have been targeted in the past — in 2019, a man attacked a Hanukkah gathering in Monsey, New York, stabbing five people and causing one fatality.
“We’ve seen a whole history of holiday-type events being attacked, more so in Europe than the US, although we have had a few plots,” said Mitch Silber, the head of the Community Security Initiative, a Jewish security group in the New York region. Those plots often target New York due to the city’s high profile, he said.
“When there’s a terrorist, or a wannabe terrorist, invariably the target is here in New York, Jewish or otherwise,” Silber said.
Silber’s group has concerns about the holidays, but did not find it necessary to put out a bulletin because the community’s alert level is high already and there were no outstanding threats.
“When you’re at a nine out of 10 of security readiness it’s tough to justify going up even further,” Silber said. “We’ve all become normalized to this higher threat environment that we live in every day.”
The NYPD will secure public Jewish events in and around New York City during the holidays, as is standard, said Silber, a former head of NYPD intelligence.
Anti-Israel protesters have also released plans for the holidays. The activist group US Campaign for Palestinian Rights published a “Holiday Season Boycott Action Kit” urging protests against companies it says are affiliated with Israel, and demonstrations at malls, public markets, at stores and online. Anti-Israel protesters have also targeted Jewish holiday events and are expected to continue to do so during the holiday season, SCN said.
Last year, anti-Israel protesters disrupted holiday events, including by brandishing a swastika at the Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting in Manhattan.
Cybercriminals will also likely target Jews and the general public during the holiday season amid increased online shopping, travel and donations to charity, SCN said in a bulletin released on Monday.
Some of those threats originate in Iran, Masters said, highlighting a reported campaign targeting Israeli officials with fake event invitations in New York last month.
“It appears that the Iranians are very interested in gathering as much information as they can about Jewish individuals and organizations, how our community functions and is structured,” Masters said.
SCN urged Jewish community members to be wary online by avoiding public wi-fi, updating software on personal devices, and checking emails for markers of “malicious intent” such as suspicious email addresses and requests for donations or unusual financial transactions.
Dov Ben-Shimon, the head of the Community Security Service, a group that trains Jewish volunteers in security, urged the community to “refresh and recommit to their security protocols” for the Hanukkah holiday.
“Hanukkah is a very public celebration of Jewish life and it’s important for our rabbis and Jewish leaders to be mindful of security,” Ben-Shimon told The Times of Israel. He stressed the importance of Jewish community coordination with law enforcement partners for the holiday.
American Jews have become more focused on protecting themselves since the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion of Israel and the subsequent surge in antisemitism in the US, said Ben-Shimon, who took the reins of CSS last month.
This year’s Hanukkah will be the second since the Hamas onslaught and ensuing surge in antisemitism in the US. SCN said it has tracked more than 5,000 threats and suspicious activities from the start of the year through November, more than last year.
“The threat environment has not gotten better. It has stayed elevated. We have to recognize that and keep our defenses and our proactive approach up,” Masters said.
Masters called on Jewish community members to be “actively engaged” in security measures by seeking out training, saying SCN has trained 40,000 people in security this year. SCN also urged community members to plan out security, particularly for public gatherings, maintain situational awareness and report antisemitic incidents or suspicious activity to law enforcement and Jewish security groups.
“We are all the eyes and ears. We are all a little bit of the light that needs to come together to make a very bright light to protect our community and dispel the darkness,” he said.
