Jewish groups urge $1b in federal funding to secure institutions after deadly DC attack
Over 40 Jewish groups request money for protection at synagogues, day schools; call museum shooting a ‘direct consequence’ of spiking antisemitism in public spaces, on social media
JTA — After a gunman murdered two people outside a Jewish museum, a wide range of major Jewish groups has asked the federal government to sharply increase its funding for religious institutions’ security to $1 billion.
The request is one of several made by the coalition following the attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday, when a shooter killed two employees of the Israeli embassy.
In the wake of the murder, Jewish security analysts are assessing what went wrong, and how such attacks can be prevented in the future. One piece of that prevention, says the Jewish groups’ statement, is more government funding.
“The apparently targeted attack on individuals attending an event at a Jewish museum and hosted by a Jewish organization represents an elevation in the threat level to the Jewish community, broadly, at a time of already heightened threats and issues,” the statement read, adding that the threat “requires governmental action commensurate with the level of danger.”
The statement was signed by groups representing the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform movements, as well as organizations including the Jewish Federations of North America, the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Zionist Organization of America, the National Council of Jewish Women, Hillel International and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
The lead signatory was the American Jewish Committee, which hosted the event at the museum.
They called for an increase to $1 billion for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which funds security for religious institutions and has historically funded a broad range of synagogues, Jewish community centers and Jewish day schools.
There are annual negotiations over the size of the NSGP allocation, which was less than $300 million in 2024, and which was frozen for a time this year amid the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal government.
Jewish New York Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, in 2023 proposed an increase to $1 billion.
The statement also called on the government to “dedicate funding to meet the urgent need for additional security personnel at Jewish institutions,” as well as for increased police funding.
The statement said the attack was “the direct consequence of rising antisemitic incitement in places such as college campuses, city council meetings, and social media that has normalized hate and emboldened those who wish to do harm.”
It demanded more government emphasis on fighting hate crimes and monitoring domestic terrorism. It also urged the government to hold “social media, gaming, messaging, and other online platforms accountable for amplification of antisemitic hate, glorification of terrorism, extremism, disinformation, and incitement.”
In recent years, social media platforms including Facebook and X, which is owned by senior Trump administration official Elon Musk, have loosened their restrictions on hate speech.
The Times of Israel Community.