Saying that funding to protect synagogues and other religious-based nonprofits “has not kept pace to meet the moment,” 41 senators — almost entirely Democrats — wrote to leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee urging members to provide $750 million in funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program in 2027.

That figure amounts to a substantial increase in funding over current levels, as well as over Senate lawmakers’ request from last year.

The program was funded in 2025 at $274.5 million, which has not yet been disbursed, and the still-stalled 2026 Homeland Security funding bill includes $300 million for the program. Yet, in 2024, the program fulfilled just 43% of requests, even with additional funding provided through a national security supplemental bill that year. Jewish and interfaith groups, as well as House lawmakers, have been pushing for up to $1 billion for the program.

Last year, 33 senators requested $500 million for the program, a record-high request at the time. This year’s request represents a new high-water mark, both in terms of the funding requested and the number of lawmakers who signed the bipartisan letter in support.

“The threat of violence is unfortunately increasing at places of worship across our country at alarming rates. In the past few years, there has been an increase in hoax bomb threats and attacks against houses of worship that are intended to interrupt services and intimidate worshippers. In particular, there has been an increase in antisemitic incidents across the country following the October 7th attack on Israel,” the senators wrote. “Nationwide, there have been countless acts of violence against religious communities.”

The lawmakers also urged the Appropriations Committee to “maintain separate line-items for this program,” amid reports that the administration has been pushing to convert Federal Emergency Management Agency grant programs, under which NSGP falls, into a broad state-by-state block grant.

The administration also called for cuts to non-emergency FEMA grants, a category that includes NSGP, without making any specific line-item request for the NSGP.

“[F]unding has not kept pace to meet the moment,” the lawmakers added, highlighting a litany of attacks on religious institutions and the funding shortages in 2024.

The letter was led by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), James Lankford (R-OK), Gary Peters (D-MI) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV). Only two Republicans other than Lankford joined the effort: Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Josh Hawley (R-MO).

“As we continue to work with Congress to secure Jewish communities, the bipartisan consensus in the Senate around $750 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program is a monumental step toward our community’s $1 billion goal,” Eric Fingerhut, the CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, said. “At a time of rising antisemitism and an escalating security crisis facing vulnerable communities across the country, demand continues to far outpace available funding.” 

Fingerhut said that JFNA plans to bring Jewish activists from across the country to lobby Congress on the issue next month “and urge them to act with urgency and resolve to ensure at-risk institutions have the resources they need before the next incident, not after.”

Lauren Wolman, the Anti-Defamation League’s senior director of government relations and strategy, said, “At a time of sustained and evolving threats, this program remains a critical lifeline for houses of worship and nonprofit institutions working to protect their communities. Demand continues to far outpace available resources, and we urge Congress to ensure funding levels reflect the reality on the ground.”

Nathan Diament, the executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, said, “The need for increased NSGP funding remains critical. We are thankful to the large bipartisan group of Senators who signed onto this letter.”

“OU Advocacy will keep pressing on all fronts to deliver the funding our Shuls and schools need to stay safe,” Diament continued.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) is no stranger to policy conversations about homeland security and terrorist attacks. As a former CIA analyst and an official at the State Department and the Pentagon, national security has been a top issue for her since her first campaign for Congress, in 2018. 

Now she must apply her policy expertise to a tragedy that is immensely personal: the attack earlier this month at Temple Israel, a Reform synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Mich., where a heavily armed man with ties to the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah drove an explosive-laden car into the building and opened fire, before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No one else was killed.

“As a senator, I’ve had to rush home for five or six mass shooting events. This one was by far closest to home. Knowing the actual people, knowing the head of security, who was the one who secured my family’s events a month and a half ago, it was just particularly personal,” Slotkin, who is Jewish, told Jewish Insider in an interview in her Capitol Hill office last week.

“I think about if my own family had been in the building. I think about my own staff [who] had family members in the building. It just brought it home in a very different way. The line between who I am as a person and who I am as a leader got completely blurred and still is,” she added. 

In an emotional conversation with JI, Slotkin proposed ways for Congress and the federal government to better respond to the threat of violent, antisemitic extremism. But even as she discussed ways to take action, she spoke with alarm about the growing prevalence of antisemitism on both sides of the aisle, which she described as out of control. 

And she was clearly shaken by an attack that was potentially inches away from being much worse.

“I think it could have been one of the worst mass killing events in U.S. history were it not for the private security that happens to be very top-notch there, and everyone doing their jobs almost perfectly,” she said. “I think it just has contributed to a feeling for many inside the state that the very things that make Jewish life valuable are becoming the soft targets.” 

During Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation hearing earlier this month, which took place days after the Temple Israel attack, Slotkin asked the former Oklahoma senator, a Republican, to work with her on improving the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program. She told JI that her conversations with him have continued.

“I don’t think we’re accurately staffed to the threat in the federal government,” she said. “My personal feeling is we’re at the level where we need, between FBI and DHS, a task force on countering antisemitic hate … Right now, we don’t have a special unit where the officers and the intel professionals get really deep on some of the the particularities of Jewish issues.” 

Congress allocated $274.5 million in 2025 to help nonprofits pay for security expenses, a figure Jewish groups believe is far too low. Slotkin wants to see more money for the program, but she also wants to improve the process for the organizations that are approved to receive those funds. 

“I think making that program, which is a very important program not just to the Jewish community, but making that more streamlined, is our responsibility,” she said. “The Temple Israel folks will tell you in detail how cumbersome that grant program is, that even when you get the money, there’s so much paperwork, so many hoops, such a lag, that it’s actually not meeting modern-day timelines.” 

Mullin said similarly in his confirmation hearing that “the amount of paperwork once you’re approved to get the funding flowing, and then the paperwork that’s followed up on is way too encompassing,” and vowed to work to “streamline” the program.

Temple Israel is one of the largest synagogues in the country and one of the best-protected. Not all institutions will be able to offer that same level of security, Slotkin warned. 

“​​Smaller institutions are just left to figure out how they could possibly protect themselves when Temple Israel became a threat,” she said. 

Slotkin is also pushing for a pilot program connected to the grant program that would give “quick reimbursement dollars for local law enforcement to help secure these locations.”

“The local law enforcement communities know how to help secure a location and know how to help secure on High Holidays or on Shabbat or all those things, but they’re often overstretched themselves,” Slotkin said. “If you pay that local police force for their extra time, it brings dollars into that police force [and] provides professional security for Jewish institutions. Nothing’s perfect, but it all just adds another layer.” 

The real issue, Slotkin pointed out, is antisemitism — and she said the playbook used to address extremism before a person becomes radicalized should be better applied to fighting antisemitism. 

“I think there’s a much bigger problem and question about, How do you deal with rampant antisemitism that’s just become normalized on both the left and the right, and sort of stop what we call the ladder of escalation when a person first starts? This is a very classic radicalization ladder that we see for groups like Al-Qaida,” said Slotkin.

She described the ladder like this: a “normal civilian” sitting on their computer who gets radicalized online, then posts hateful content to their profiles, before vandalizing a Jewish institution and perhaps getting into verbal or physical fights, which might then give way to plotting extremist violence. 

“We have to figure out how to stop and intervene before people start climbing that ladder,” she said. 

“I think [the attack] contributed to this feeling for some that this problem is completely out of control, but the threat is now coming from both the left and the right and from mentally ill people in the middle, and we are not positioned properly to deal with that threat,” Slotkin said. “I don’t think anyone in the Jewish community feels like we have figured out the best way, in particular, to deal with left-wing antisemitism. The Jewish community is pretty used to dealing with white supremacy and threats from the right.”

One day after the attack, Slotkin attended Shabbat services with the Temple Israel community. The gathering was held at Shenandoah County Club, which is located across the street from Temple Israel and serves the Chaldean community, a group of Iraqi Christians. A ballroom in the country club was where parents, teachers and children gathered when they were evacuated from the synagogue during the attack. 

Amid the bleak news that followed the attack, Slotkin wanted people to remember what the Chaldeans did. 

“I literally could not contain my emotion when the community was giving a standing ovation as they brought in the religious leaders, Iraqi American men in religious garb, to thank them,” said Slotkin. “In our hour of greatest need, they did not flinch. And I think Jews in our community for three generations will remember that.” 

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8-7 Thursday to advance Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-OK) nomination to be secretary of homeland security to the full Senate, largely along party lines.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the committee chair, was the lone Republican to oppose the nomination, while Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) voted in support. Mullin’s nomination now heads to the full Senate, where a simple majority is required for confirmation.

Prior to the vote, Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), the committee’s ranking member, announced he would oppose the nomination, arguing that Mullin “is not up to the challenge.”

“When I heard President [Donald] Trump would be nominating Sen. Mullin, I kept an open mind,” Peters said on Thursday. “However, throughout the nomination process, he has failed to be forthright and transparent. Sen. Mullin also showed that he doesn’t have the experience or the temperament to lead this critical department.” 

Some committee members had expressed frustration during his hearing on Wednesday that Mullin was not forthcoming about a trip he took as a member of Congress, which he claims was classified.

Explaining his vote as the lone Democrat in support, Fetterman said on social media: “My AYE is rooted in a strong committed, constructive working relationship with Senator Mullin for our nation’s security.” He added that he had approached the confirmation “with an open-mind.”

During Mullin’s contentious hearing on Wednesday, Paul had voiced opposition to Mullin, citing personal animosity stemming from remarks the Oklahoma senator made about a past assault on Paul.

Mullin last month called Paul a “freaking snake” and said he “understood” why Paul’s neighbor had attacked him — an assault that left Paul with serious injuries and resulted in a prison sentence for the assailant. Mullin declined to apologize during the hearing, prompting Paul to threaten to cancel the vote.

The vote also comes as DHS enters the second month of a funding lapse amid a standoff between lawmakers over funding and reforms for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The lapse has impacted agencies including the Transportation Security Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, ICE and the Coast Guard, raising security concerns amid heightened threats tied to the ongoing war with Iran.

During his confirmation hearing, Mullin said it was a “horrible time” for the department to be without full funding and acknowledged the increased threat environment.

Lawmakers also raised concerns about the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which provides funding to help protect religious institutions.

Following last week’s violent attack at Temple Israel in suburban Detroit, Mullin was pressed on the need to streamline the program amid persistent challenges, including underfunding and delays tied in part to the DHS funding lapse.

Mullin agreed, saying “there’s a better way to do this,” adding that he would be “laser-focused” on improving the program.

In his nomination hearing to be secretary of homeland security, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said he will aim to “streamline the process” for grants, including the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) aimed at helping harden religious institutions, amid heightened antisemitism and increased threats during the ongoing war in Iran. 

The NSGP has faced persistent challenges, including severe underfunding, controversial new conditions and, most recently, delays tied to the ongoing partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. 

When pressed by senators on the need to unlock NSGP funding in the wake of the violent attack at Temple Israel in suburban Detroit last week, Mullin agreed that the process should be streamlined and said he would aim to “cut out the redundancies” and “amount of paperwork.” 

“The Jewish community is spending about a billion dollars a year privately securing their own institutions,” said Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI). “No religious group should have to spend that amount of money on their own security in the United States of America. So I would just ask for your help in reforming the Nonprofit Security Grant Program so it’s agile, so you don’t have to win the grant and then still do 100 pieces of paper.”

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) echoed those sentiments, noting that the “length of time it takes to get a response” is concerning, especially for “locations that are higher risk than others.”

“Synagogues and temples have been one of those very high risk locations that are out there,” Lankford said, referencing the attack at Temple Israel. “That location happened to be one of the locations where there’s also been this nonprofit security grant to help harden that facility.”

“We have multiple challenges here,” Lankford added. “One of them is, when the decision is made, they make a request, go through the paperwork, get approval to be one of those locations that we say we need to harden this location. Once the approval is done, it may take months to over a year just for the dollars to actually come on it because there’s more bureaucratic hoops to go through.”

In response, Mullin agreed, “there’s a better way to do this.” He added that while he may have political differences with some of the lawmakers on the committee, this issue “isn’t one” of them and that he would be “laser focused and get this resolved.”

“The amount of paperwork once you’re approved to get the funding flowing, and then the paperwork that’s followed up on is way too encompassing,” Mullin said. “Taking years to get reimbursed is not acceptable. Taking months to get reimbursed is not acceptable.”

Mullin was also pressed on the threat of terrorist attacks domestically amid the DHS funding lapse and ongoing conflict in Iran. 

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), cited several recent incidents that had “potential terrorist ties,” including the antisemitic attack at Temple Israel in Michigan whose perpetrator had family ties to Hezbollah; a school shooting at Old Dominion University earlier this month, which is being investigated as an act of terrorism; a mass shooting in Austin, Texas, which is being investigated as having ties to the Iran conflict; and the detonation of bombs in New York City. 

“Is this a good time for the Department of Homeland Security to be shut down and unfunded?” Hawley said. 

“It’s a horrible time,” Mullin replied. “It’s devastating to the morale of the men and women we have tasked to keep care, take care of all of us, all the homeland, regardless it’s a blue state or red state.”

Sen. Richard Bumenthal (D-CT) pressed Mullin over whether he would approve the deportation of Iranian dissidents who could face death or punishment upon being returned to Tehran. The Trump administration has deported Iranians back to Iran from the U.S. on several deportation flights after a deal between the two governments was reached. 

“Before the war in Iran began, the Trump administration negotiated a back-channel agreement, a deal with the Islamic Republic to deport Iranian nationals, including asylum seekers and dissidents,” Blumenthal said. “I have no doubt you share my outrage about the treatment of Iranian nationals who were deported, possibly to torture and death in Iran. We should not be sending Iranian dissidents and asylum seekers back to Iran, wouldn’t you agree?”

Mullin was noncommittal, arguing that he didn’t know “the specifics” behind the incident. 

“Before I can talk about hypotheticals, I would need to know the reasons behind it,” Mullin said. “But I don’t want to deport anybody that’s here legally and most definitely not individuals that have done everything possible to be a contributor to society.”

“We know that our enemies want to infiltrate us and use our rules and generosity against us, so I don’t know the specifics of their background,” Mullin added. “But I will be happy to look into it.” 

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), a leader in the House on antisemitism and NGSP funding who attended Mullin’s hearing, told Jewish Insider that DHS needed “new leadership,” and signaled an openness to working with Mullin on the issue.

“We don’t agree on everything, that’s for sure. But, after a decade of working out together most mornings, and finding bipartisan solutions to some of the toughest issues, Markwayne and his family have become very good friends,” Gottheimer said. 

During the hearing, Mullin also noted that Gottheimer is “a friend” and that he would “run through fire for the guy.”

“When Josh asked me to join a bipartisan group called No Labels, that’s when we really started seeing that there’s a lot of common ground that we can work together on,” Mullin said. “We can set the differences aside, and we can work together. In fact, our daughters are writing a book together about bipartisanship.”

Mullin’s prospects for confirmation remain somewhat in question, given apparent opposition from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who leads the committee where Mullin’s nomination vote will take place. Paul’s opposition traces to personal animosity between the two colleagues, as well as what Paul described as Mullin’s “anger issues.” 

Mullin recently called Paul a “freaking snake” and said that he “understood” why Paul’s neighbor had attacked him, an assault that resulted in serious injuries and a prison sentence for Paul’s neighbor. Mullin refused to apologize at the hearing, to Paul’s outrage. 

“I was shocked that you would justify and celebrate this violent assault that caused me so much pain and my family so much pain. The record will show a lack of contrition, no apology and no regrets for your support. You completely understand the violence that was perpetrated on me. You’re unrepentant,” Paul said. “I just wonder if someone who applauds violence against their political opponents is the right person to lead an agency that has struggled to accept limits to the proper use of force.”

“We can have our differences,” Mullin replied. “It’s not going to keep me from doing my job as secretary of homeland security.” 

Paul threatened during the hearing to cancel the vote, scheduled for Thursday, on Mullin’s nomination. If Paul refuses to allow a vote, that would effectively block Mullin’s nomination, even if he otherwise has the necessary support to advance.

The Kentucky senator and committee Democrats also raised questions about a classified trip Mullin claims to have taken to a combat zone while he was a member of the House, the details of which Mullin refused to discuss in public during the hearing, alleging that the trip was classified. Committee members retired to a secure room to discuss the trip after the hearing.

If a vote is held, Mullin will need the support of at least one Democrat on the committee in order to advance without Paul’s support. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has previously expressed his intention to support Mullin, and urged Paul and Mullin to move past their feud during the hearing.

Amid an increasing storm of controversy, President Donald Trump announced Thursday he was removing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem from her post, replacing her with Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK).

Noem has come under fire for a series of issues, including her handling of immigration enforcement operations, her response to immigration agents’ shootings of two U.S. citizens, an alleged affair with a senior aide and what critics have characterized as self-promotion. Most recently, Noem claimed under oath this week that Trump had personally approved a $200 million ad campaign starring Noem herself, something that Trump has since publicly denied.

Trump said on Truth Social that the switch would take place effective March 31 — though Mullin will still need to face Senate confirmation proceedings.

Mullin could face a contentious path to confirmation. DHS remains without full funding in a partial shutdown — a result of  Democratic outrage over immigration operations. Democratic lawmakers will likely grill Mullin during confirmation proceedings, and many would likely vote against him in protest of Trump’s immigration policies. But Mullin’s stature in the Senate and familiarity with his colleagues could give him an inside track to confirmation, as opposed to other potential picks.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Border Management, Federal Workforce and Regulatory Affairs, told Jewish Insider on Thursday that he would vote to confirm Mullin. Fetterman, who was one of seven Democrats who voted to confirm Noem last January, publicly urged Trump to consider firing Noem and nominating Mullin in her place earlier Thursday. 

Fetterman was the only Democrat to immediately commit to supporting Mullin’s nomination, and expressed skepticism that many of his Democratic colleagues would consider doing the same in a post on X announcing his plan to vote for Mullin.

The sometimes-combative Mullin could face some issues on his own side of the aisle as well — the Senate Homeland Security Committee, which would oversee his confirmation, is chaired by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), whom Mullin recently called a “freaking snake,” saying he had told Paul he understood why a neighbor attacked the Kentucky senator in 2017, breaking several of his ribs.

Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt similarly cheered the news of Mullin’s nomination, saying in a statement, “Markwayne Mullin has been a fighter for Oklahoma and will fight to keep our nation secure. There isn’t a better choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security..”

Stitt, who is responsible for appointing Mullin’s replacement in the Senate to serve through the next election, added that he “will be looking to appoint a strong, small government conservative voice to support President Trump and protect Oklahomans’ way of life.” Under Oklahoma law, his appointee will not be permitted to run for the seat in the next election.

With the central role of immigration in Trump’s messaging and political agenda, immigration enforcement would likely remain at the top of the priority list for any DHS director he selects. But the war in Iran has raised concerns about homeland threats linked to or inspired by the Iranian regime.

Noem told senators in a hearing this week that the administration was preparing for potential homeland attacks by Iran, including “revetting” individuals who entered the country during the Biden administration.

Mullin, in the Senate, has been hawkish on Iran and its proxies, and is a stalwart supporter of Trump, but has been less involved in discussions related to antisemitism domestically — though he indicated he would have been supportive of the Antisemitism Awareness Act. 

He said after a House hearing where three college presidents refused to say that calling for the genocide of Jews would be banned under their policies, “The rise of antisemitism on college campuses was on full display yesterday as Ivy League presidents refused to say whether calling for the mass murder of Jewish people constitutes harassment on their campuses. This vile, hateful, and cowardly behavior is completely despicable.”

The 48-year-old senator took office in 2023, after serving a decade in the House. 

“We look forward to working with Mr. Mullin when he takes the helm at DHS to support the security of the Jewish community and all American faith communit[ies],” Nathan Diament, the executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, told JI.

Noem is the first Cabinet official to leave her post during the second Trump administration. Observers generally see Trump as less eager to remove top aides during his second term, an effort to counter the perception of chaos that pervaded his first term in office from frequent high-level turnover.

Under Noem, DHS has repeatedly come under fire for its handling of issues related to antisemitism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and Jewish community groups, though it’s not clear to what extent Noem was directly involved in those issues.

The department added new conditions to Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding which may compel religious institutions to agree to eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs and cooperate with immigration enforcement efforts in order to qualify for funding.

NSGP funding itself has also repeatedly been delayed and waylaid, with unclear deadlines provided to grantees and the state agencies that administer the grant program. Lawmakers have said that they also have not received information usually provided to them about the program. It remains unclear whether grants from the 2025 grant cycle have been awarded yet.

Applications for 2025 grants also opened months late, and funding from supplemental grant rounds that organizations applied for in 2024 was delayed by months, well into 2025.

Noem instituted a policy at DHS that required her personal signoff on any expenditures of more than $100,000, which may have contributed to the slowdowns in NSGP funding.

Mullin, as a member of the House, voted with a majority of Republicans against the bipartisan Nonprofit Security Grant Improvement Act, which proposed increased funding for the program and a dedicated structure at DHS to oversee and manage the growing program, but does not otherwise appear to have been actively involved in discussions around the program.

Separately, DHS has repeatedly come under scrutiny over guidelines issued by the Coast Guard regarding displays of swastikas and nooses. Previous policy had described such displays as banned hate symbols, whereas a new policy first reported in November characterized them instead as “potentially divisive” and mandated a lesser investigation.

The Coast Guard assured lawmakers that the policy would be corrected, but weeks later, the Guard apparently broke that pledge and instituted the “potentially divisive” language anyway. Days later, it again walked back the policy change.

Throughout, Noem and the department denied any wrongdoing and attacked critics.

Noem, a former South Dakota governor, is now rumored to be considering a primary challenge to Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), a moderate Republican and pro-Israel stalwart. She is also believed to have presidential ambitions. For now, Noem will become special envoy to a new security initiative for the Western Hemisphere being launched by Trump on Saturday, the president said in his Truth Social post.

Facing concerns from Senate Republicans over her agency’s preparedness, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday defended the department’s ability to respond against potential Iranian sleeper-cell threats as the Department of Homeland Security remains unfunded and under a partial shutdown amid an escalating conflict with Tehran. 

“We work every single day with our intelligence agencies and law enforcement partners to make sure that we are investigating and finding any threats to the homeland here within our borders,” Noem said at an oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Not only that — we are revetting some of the individuals and some of the programs that we may have concerns about, looking at social media, also going through those interviews that are necessary for some of our programs that the Biden administration abused and perverted under their time there as well.”

“We don’t necessarily know who all came into our country,” Noem added. “We know that we have many dangerous individuals that came in unvetted, and we are working every single day to find them and to make sure that we’re preventing the next attack and preventing the next crime perpetrated against the American people.” 

The hearing unfolded as DHS has continued to operate without full appropriations since Feb. 14, after lawmakers failed to reach a funding deal, largely over disagreements about the Trump administration’s immigration strategy. 

Congressional Republicans have warned that the DHS shutdown poses a national security risk and impacts the agency’s ability to conduct counterterrorism and domestic security operations against Iranian-backed threats at a crucial moment of conflict. 

Those concerns intensified over the weekend after a shooting in Austin, Texas, left three people dead and 13 wounded. Authorities said a Senegalese man opened fire inside a bar while wearing a hoodie that read “property of Allah.” According to reports, investigators later found photos of Iranian leaders at his residence. 

“I wonder how many people are like that here, waiting to pounce, and DHS doesn’t have appropriated funds,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) during the hearing, referring to the incident in Texas. “This is insane. There are more people like this.” 

Asked by Graham whether the threat level from “radical Islamist terrorists” is increased amid the ongoing military confrontation with Tehran, Noem responded: “Yep.”

Congressional Democrats said Monday they have no plans to end the funding standoff, but that they are willing to fund DHS agencies that do not handle immigration enforcement. However, Republicans have largely opposed splitting up DHS funding. 

“Can we not understand America is under siege, now likely to be attacked because radical Islam is under siege and they’re going to hit back and we’re sitting here looking at each other and not funding DHS?” said Graham. 

A bipartisan group of 82 House lawmakers wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday urging her to roll back new conditions placed on applications for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program amid rising antisemitic attacks.

The bipartisan support for the letter is particularly notable given that, while Democrats have been raising concerns about the conditions for months, Republicans have, publicly, been comparatively quiet.

“We are writing to you today to express our desire to ensure that the NSGP is adequately funded and unimpeded by new requirements that are unrelated to the security of grant recipients and their communities,” the letter, led by Reps. Max Miller (R-OH), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Michael McCaul (R-TX), reads. “Insufficient funding or unnecessary obstacles to obtaining grants could undermine the right of every religious community to freely and peacefully worship and congregate without fear.”

The letter states that new conditions issued by DHS in April 2025 “create new compliance requirements for recipients that will divert limited funds and restrict the religious conscience of synagogues, schools, and other institutions pivotal to our communities.”

The new conditions may compel religious institutions to cooperate with immigration enforcement activities and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

“We encourage DHS to work to make compliance with NSGP requirements as simple and streamlined as possible. We also request that DHS ensures NSGP remains a program designed to protect the security of houses of worship, not to reinforce other policy priorities,” the lawmakers wrote. “In this time of rising antisemitic terror attacks and violence against diverse faith-based institutions, we believe it is crucial that NSGP remains a critical resource for all who seek to worship in safety and free from partisan politicization.”

They called on Noem to issue new guidance that “waives any terms and conditions that do not directly relate to the grant’s purpose, which is to help qualified institutions improve their security against increasing threats.”

The lawmakers emphasized the clear need for and lifesaving impact of NSGP funds in a time of increased hate-motivated violence. They also thanked Noem for her “ongoing support” for the program.

DHS has not yet awarded grants from the 2025 grant cycle, and lawmakers have accused the administration of withholding critical information about which institutions have received funding under separate grant rounds. Democrats have alleged the department is mismanaging the program.

Funding for the grants in 2026 — thought to be finalized just weeks ago — was again thrown into question last week when lawmakers agreed to reopen negotiations over the Department of Homeland Security funding package for the year following the deadly shootings by immigration agents of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.

“The Nonprofit Security Grant Program is one of the most vital programs protecting the Jewish community. We continue to encourage every Jewish institution with heightened security needs to apply for these funds,” Jewish Federations of North America CEO Eric Fingerhut said. “We have also heard from our community that the current terms and conditions have had the unintended effect of deterring some organizations from applying, which is why we believe they should be updated appropriately.”

“At a time of rising violence and hatred targeting houses of worship, NSGP is an essential lifeline for synagogues and other faith-based institutions seeking to protect their congregants,” said Lauren Wolman, ADL’s senior director of government relations and strategy. “We are grateful for the bipartisan effort to ensure DHS requirements remain clear, consistent, and focused on what matters most — helping at-risk nonprofits protect themselves from threats. Organizations must be able to access these resources quickly, with confidence, and without unnecessary delays.”

“Jewish and other communities facing violent threats deserve to know that the government is prioritizing their safety, not politicizing it,” Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said. “Yet the chaos created by these new terms and conditions has only created more vulnerability for communities, who are worried that they’ll be forced to choose between their core religious beliefs and their basic security — a concern we’ve been raising for months.” 

“We appreciate Reps. Miller and Gottheimer for helping lead this important bipartisan call to clarify that NSGP should not be used for anything other than the security of our communities,” Spitalnick continued.

The members of the Congressional Jewish Caucus — every Jewish House Democrat — wrote to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on Wednesday urging her to rescind new conditions — presumably related to immigration enforcement and diversity programs — instituted earlier this year on recipients of Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding.

“We are writing to you today to express our strong desire to ensure that the NSGP is adequately funded and unimpeded by new requirements that are unrelated to the security of grant recipients and their communities,” the letter reads. “Insufficient funding or unnecessary obstacles to obtaining grants could undermine the right of every religious community to freely and peacefully worship and congregate without fear.”

The lawmakers charge that new conditions for the grant program promulgated in April “create onerous new compliance requirements for recipients that will divert limited funds and restrict the religious conscience of synagogues, schools, and other institutions pivotal to our community,” and call on Noem to issue new guidance waiving any terms “that do not directly relate to the grant’s purpose, which is to help qualified institutions improve their security against increasing threats.”

The letter does not directly spell out which conditions the lawmakers are addressing, but congressional Democrats and some in the Jewish community have previously raised concerns about new language in some grant materials indicating that grants may be contingent on cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and eliminating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs.

“[W]e reject any efforts to force Jewish and other houses of worship and institutions to choose between vital security funding and expression of their core religious freedoms, as well as their faith teachings and values,” the lawmakers wrote. “In this time of increased hate crimes against minorities, and in particular rising antisemitism, we believe it is crucial that NSGP remains a critical resource accessible to all communities in need and free from partisan politicization.”

The lawmakers also emphasized that members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have supported a “streamlined, effective program with minimal red tape and compliance requirements.”

The letter was signed by Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Brad Schneider (D-IL), the co-chairs of the Jewish caucus, and Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Becca Balint (D-VT), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Seth Magaziner (D-RI), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Mike Levin (D-CA), Kim Schrier (D-WA), Laura Friedman (D-CA), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Greg Landsman (D-OH) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL).

“The Nonprofit Security Grant Program has been a lifeline as we face rising antisemitism, hate, and extremism — but these politically-motivated grant requirements threaten to force our communities to choose between their safety and their core religious values,” Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO  Amy Spitalnick said in a statement about the letter, which specifically referenced the immigration and DEI language. “The fact is that the NSGP is simply too important to be politicized to advance the administration’s agenda..”

JCPA has previously urged the administration directly to repeal the conditions.

A coalition of major Jewish communal and security organizations, including the Jewish Federations of North America, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Anti-Defamation League, Secure Community Network, Community Security Initiative and Community Security Service issued a joint statement in September urging institutions to apply for the grants in spite of any concerns that they may have about the new criteria.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on Tuesday pushing for additional information about Nonprofit Security Grant Program allocations, as well as criticizing the funding allocation proposed last week by Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“As I travel around Connecticut and hear from community leaders here and around the country, I am struck by the severely heightened anxiety and apprehension about physical threats to places of worship and community centers involving hate-based violence,” Blumenthal said. “One of the most important tools at our disposal to combat such hate and protect religious institutions and minority communities is the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP).”

Blumenthal said it is “critical for Congress to have fulsome data” about the program as it works to finalize 2026 government funding, and requested data on grant applications and acceptances, the reasons why FEMA has provided less funding than requested to some institutions and the resources FEMA provided to unsuccessful applicants for each year from 2023 to 2025.

He asked Noem to submit the data by Jan. 6, 2026.

Blumenthal also said he’s “disappointed” by the proposed funding level of $330 million for the program in 2026 offered by Senate Republicans, which falls “far short of my request and the program’s clear need, with reports indicating recipients requested approximately $1 billion from FEMA in 2024 alone.”

A source familiar with the legislation noted to Jewish Insider the Senate bill includes a 20 percent increase over its 2025 funding level, a greater increase than provided for other grant programs in the bill that generally saw increases of 11 percent to 15 percent. 

The explanatory report accompanying the Senate GOP bill also includes language requesting more specific data from FEMA about past grant applications and acceptances.

Senate Appropriations Committee Republicans, in a long-delayed Homeland Security funding bill released on Friday, proposed a modest increase in funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $330 million.

The program was funded at $274.5 million in 2025 — not counting supplemental funds included in the 2024 national security supplemental bill. The Senate’s proposed increase comes in far below the $500 million to $1 billion that Jewish community advocates and supporters of the program on Capitol Hill have called for.

The proposal is also slightly below the $335 million approved by the House in its version of the bill earlier this year. The Senate proposal sets off a sprint to finalize 2026 government funding when Congress returns in January, ahead of an end-of-month deadline.

With $305 million available in 2024, the program funded less than half of applications, with nearly $1 billion in total funding requested. The Department of Homeland Security has not yet closed or finalized grant applications for 2025, and has not released data on application or acceptance rates for supplemental funding rounds earlier this year.

The explanatory report accompanying the bill — likely reflecting congressional concerns around a lack of transparency about the program — directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide within 180 days a report on 2023, 2024 and 2025 funding grants, the number of applications, and “any quantitative or qualitative results or other outcomes related to such.”

“FEMA is also encouraged to utilize NSGP grants to help nonprofits detect and respond to threats,” the report continues. “The Committee further notes that eligible uses of NSGP grant funding include the acquisition of technology providing immediate notification to emergency 911 services; real-time, actionable intelligence directly to law enforcement and first responders; and other DHS-certified technology designed to prevent and respond to terrorism and other threats.”

It had been unclear just days ago if the Senate Appropriations Committee would release a Homeland Security bill at all, with the top Democrat on the subcommittee, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), saying he was unsure where the process stood and a Republican member telling Jewish Insider that a full-year continuing resolution — which would continue 2025 funding levels through 2026 — was a possibility.

A spokesperson for Murphy told JI the bill was a GOP product, not, as has been standard, a negotiated draft among both parties.

Lauren Wolman, the Anti-Defamation League’s senior director of government relations and strategy, said that the allocation “is a major step forward and reflects the gravity of the threats facing Jewish communities today.”

“Demand for this program continues to far outpace available funding, and we urge Congress to ensure every at-risk nonprofit can access the security resources it needs,” Wolman continued.

Nathan Diament, the executive director of public policy for the Orthodox Union, said that the Senate proposal is “a useful start to the process.”

“Obviously, in light of recent events, we will be working with our partners to increase that funding level in the final bill,” Diament said. “We appreciate that the Senate bill is on par with what the House reported out earlier this year.”

Michael Masters, the CEO of the Secure Community Network, emphasized that the NSGP funding is critical.

“SCN is deeply appreciative of the Committee’s continued commitment to protecting faith-based communities in today’s unprecedented threat environment. The Nonprofit Security Grant Program has proven time and again to save lives by helping institutions targeted by terror and hate to deter, prevent, and respond to attacks,” Masters said. “At a time when the faith-based community has continued to find itself under attack, this funding is essential to safeguarding communities and preserving our ability to gather and worship — a fundamental right we must fight to preserve, as Americans.”

Rachel Dembo, director of policy and government relations for the Jewish Federations of North America, thanked the committee for the proposal. 

“This is a meaningful step forward as threats to faith communities remain high, particularly for the Jewish community,” Dembo said in a statement. “While more work remains to be done, we urge lawmakers to conference and pass this annual funding bill and keep building toward funding levels that reflect today’s threat environment.”

The massacre in which 15 people were killed at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday has once again brought the Jewish community’s security vulnerabilities into stark focus.

But for the American Jewish community, the prospects for much-needed help from the federal government in the form of additional Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding remain unclear.

The Senate Appropriations Committee’s homeland security subcommittee still hasn’t released a draft bill for 2026, greatly increasing the chances of a full-year continuing resolution that would keep funding for the program flat, at $274.5 million, a level that advocates and proponents on the Hill and Jewish groups say is severely insufficient. The House has passed its own version of the bill with $335 million in funding for the program.

Eric Fingerhut, the CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, told JI, “The events in Australia and California these past days are terrible reminders of the violent antisemitism Jewish communities face. We’ve worked to ensure that every Federation community has a professional security program and director, but at the end of the day it is the government’s responsibility to keep its citizens safe from terrorism, and that’s why it is critical to both ensure that the Nonprofit Security Grant Program is fully funded and not allowed to lapse.”

Multiple lawmakers on the committee and those who follow the NSGP funding process closely said they have little clarity on the state of play on the funding bill, including subcommittee ranking member Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), a co-chair of the Senate antisemitism task force.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), who serves on the homeland security subcommittee, told JI that a full-year continuing resolution is “a real possibility” at present, noting that the legislation “is always tough to put together.”

But Kennedy said there are other ways to boost funding for the grant program. “There’s no reason we can’t do that [add more money for NSGP] if we end up with an omnibus for the remainder of the bills that don’t pass. But every day that goes by that we don’t do something on [Appropriations], an omnibus or CR looks more and more likely,” Kennedy told JI.

Government funding runs out again at the end of January, so lawmakers will need to put together a plan quickly on how they plan to proceed when they return from the holidays.

Grant funding allocations for this year also remain pending — the administration announced applications months ago, but lawmakers have repeatedly raised concerns about unclear timelines and a failure by the Department of Homeland Security to conduct statutorily required outreach programs.

Lankford told JI, “I’ve been calling all year” for the funding to be disbursed, but indicated he hasn’t heard any updates.

Looking into next year, the agenda for combating antisemitism on Capitol Hill also remains unclear. The momentum from Jewish communal institutions and lawmakers that in 2024 drove a push for the Antisemitism Awareness Act has largely died down. It’s been months since the last hearing on antisemitism — once a regular occurrence after Oct. 7, 2023. The volume of legislation introduced and congressional letters on the issue has also seemed to flag.

It’s still early, but there’s little sign that the events of this weekend are fundamentally altering the inertia that seems to have set in on antisemitism policy. Which raises the question: what can?

A group of Democrats from Colorado’s congressional delegation wrote to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem raising questions about the implementation and execution of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

“In light of the recent surge in anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, and other violent hate-based incidents in the United States, the importance of this program cannot be overstated,” the letter reads. “We urge DHS and FEMA to do more to ensure NSGP allows nonprofits and religious organizations to better protect the people they serve. All Americans deserve to visit their places of worship, schools, and community centers freely and without fear.”

The letter specifically focuses on gaps in executing the Nonprofit Security Grant Program Improvement Act, passed in 2022, which directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish a dedicated office to administer the NSGP and provide expanded assistance to potential applicants.

The letter notes that there has been no announcement that such an office has been established, and requests information about whether such action has taken place and, if so, “to what extent it is appropriately staffed to carry out the duties outlined.”

The letter also raises concerns about the “lack of standardization of application deadlines” among the various state agencies that manage applications from individual nonprofit groups at the state level, another aim of the Improvement Act. 

“Implementing a standard deadline for all [state administrative agencies] and a set list of required documents would make the process significantly more efficient and less confusing for the organizations applying,” the letter reads. “In addition, we believe there should be increased transparency between FEMA and SAAs. FEMA should provide uniform guidance and feedback regarding both successful and unsuccessful applications. This increased communication would allow unsuccessful organizations to improve their applications.”

Though the letter does not directly address the issue, other lawmakers have raised concerns about the delayed opening and short application timeline for the NSGP this year, and accused the Department of Homeland Security of a range of issues in its handling of the grant program.

The letter also requests that FEMA change its policies to allow institutions to pay permanent security staff with the grants they receive, something they are unable to do under current guidelines; currently, institutions can only use grant funding to hire security contractors.

“While this has been helpful, at present, organizations cannot use funds from this program for permanent salaried employees or personnel expenses,” the lawmakers wrote. “This means that non-profits are reliant on contracting outside security vendors, which can be unpredictable and hard to hire when needed.”

The letter was led by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and co-signed by Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Reps. Joe Neguse (D-CO), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Brittany Pettersen (D-CO) and Jason Crow (D-CO).

The 21 members of the House Jewish Caucus — every Jewish Democrat in the chamber — wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to express “extreme alarm and concern” about recent reporting that the Coast Guard would no longer classify the swastika as a hate symbol, and demanded answers about the policy.

Amid backlash, the policy was walked back, according to the Washington Post, and the swastika will remain a prohibited hate symbol rather than be classified as “potentially divisive.”

“While we are pleased that the Coast Guard quickly reversed course and reaffirmed that these are hate symbols, we remain deeply troubled that such a change was ever considered in the first place,” the lawmakers, led by Rep. Laura Friedman (D-CA), said. “This kind of reversal, only made after media attention and public outrage, raises urgent questions about how and why this policy was allowed to advance.”

They requested the administration provide, by Nov. 26, an explanation of how the policy was initiated including who authorized, discussed and approved it from DHS, the White House and the Pentagon.

The lawmakers said that “lowering America’s moral standards” will hurt both service members and recruiting efforts, as well as “sends a dangerous and unmistakable message that this administration is willing to tolerate, or worse, excuse, the display of symbols rooted in hate.”

The Jewish Caucus members said that the change and its intent in the leaked policy memo was clear, pushing back on claims from the administration that reporting on the policy had been misleading or inaccurate.

“Your department made an intentional change to downgrade these symbols from being classified as hate symbols to merely ‘potentially divisive,’” the letter reads.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), a former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committees, announced Sunday that he will retire from Congress at the end of next year, after 11 terms in office.

McCaul, 63, has been a critical voice for traditional conservative internationalism at a time of rising isolationist sentiment among some factions of the GOP; he’s seen as a key leader who helped drive the passage of supplemental aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan in the House last year.

The Texas congressman has been a staunch supporter of Israel and an Iran hawk in the House and has also been a lead Republican voice in support of expanded funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which helps protect Jewish and other vulnerable nonprofits.

“My father’s service in World War II inspired me to pursue a life of public service, with a focus on defending our great nation against global threats, and I have been proud to carry out that mission in Congress for more than two decades,” McCaul said in a statement. “I am ready for a new challenge in 2027 and look forward to continuing to serve my country in the national security and foreign policy realm.”

As the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, McCaul was seen as a bipartisan dealmaker who maintained good relationships with Democratic colleagues.

Prior to his time in Congress, McCaul was a career prosecutor — the chief of counterterrorism and national security for the U.S. attorney in the Western District of Texas, the deputy attorney general of Texas and a federal prosecutor in the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section.

The end of the current session of congress will see other prominent Republican foreign policy hawks depart Congress as well, including Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), and a new generation of GOP leaders take leadership of key foreign policy committees.

McCaul’s deep-red district — redrawn to be even darker red in the next election cycle — is expected to remain in Republican hands.

The House Appropriations Committee’s draft 2026 Homeland Security funding bill includes $305 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, a marginal increase that would restore the program to its 2023 funding levels.

But lawmakers and Jewish advocacy groups at the time — well before antisemitism skyrocketed following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, the ensuing war in Gaza and the recent series of antisemitic terrorist attacks in the United States — called that funding level insufficient. At the time, the funding fell well short of meeting demand, which has increased significantly since then.

In 2024 and 2025, the program received $274.5 million, supplemented by $400 million split across the two years from the national security supplemental bill passed in 2024.

In 2023, the program received a total of 5,257 applications, requesting a total of $679 million in funding. Just 42% were approved. Demand increased significantly in 2024 — 7,584 applications were submitted, totaling nearly $1 billion in funding requested. Forty-three percent of applications were approved, with $454.5 million available between annual appropriations and the supplemental.

Bipartisan groups of supporters in the House and Senate have been pushing for $500 million for the program for 2026, while many Jewish groups called for funding to be increased to $1 billion following the shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Jewish communal event in Washington in May. 

The House’s proposal does, however, deviate from the administration’s request for flat funding — $274.5 million — for the program, indicating some interest from House Republicans in providing additional support for the program.

The House Appropriations Committee’s Homeland Security Subcommittee will meet to debate and vote on the bill Monday evening, and the full committee will debate and vote on it Thursday morning.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told Jewish Insider last week that he plans to launch an “all-out push” on Monday for $500 million for the program. He said that Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee, who will release their own draft bill, “seemed open to it.”

With both chambers of Congress and the White House controlled by Republicans, Schumer’s voice may have limited impact in the process.

The American Jewish community is facing an “elevated threat” following a surge of violent antisemitic attacks across the country in recent weeks, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security warned last week. 

In a joint statement, the FBI and DHS called for increased vigilance among Jewish communities, noting the possibility of copycat attacks after a shooting in Washington in which two Israeli Embassy employees were killed and an attack in Boulder, Colo., in which 15 people were injured in a firebombing targeting advocates calling for the release of hostages in Gaza. “The ongoing Israel-HAMAS conflict may motivate other violent extremists and hate crime perpetrators with similar grievances to conduct violence against Jewish and Israeli communities and their supporters. Foreign terrorist organizations also may try to exploit narratives related to the conflict to inspire attacks in the United States,” the agencies warned. 

Jewish organizations that track threats to the community are similarly concerned about online rhetoric following the attacks. 

The Anti-Defamation League highlighted that, one day after the incident in Boulder, videos allegedly recorded by the assailant shortly before the assault began circulated on a Telegram channel called Taufan al-Ummah, which translates to “Flood of the Ummah,” a reference to the Al-Aqsa Flood, Hamas’ name for its Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel. The circulated posts celebrated Soliman’s actions. 

The ADL also noted that extremists responded to the attack by spreading conspiracy theories which blamed Jews for the firebombing. Additionally, the Bronx Anti-War Coalition posted a threat shortly after the attack: “May all Zionists live in perpetual fear and paranoia until the day the criminal entity crumbles.” 

“The volume of alerts when our social media web scraping tools highlight postings that may be real threats is happening at a much higher run rate than before D.C. and Boulder,” Mitch Silber, director of the Community Security Initiative, which coordinates security for Jewish communities in the New York region, told Jewish Insider.

“I would say it’s unprecedented,” Silber said of the threat Jews are confronting.  

Silber also called it “unprecedented that American Jews are being targeted because of Israel’s actions,” referring to the Boulder attack, the killing of the two Israeli Embassy staffers, and an attempted arson attack on the home of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro during the holiday of Passover. The suspect in the Boulder attack told investigators he “wanted to kill all Zionist people” and had planned the attack for a year. The shooter in Washington yelled “Free Palestine” shortly after the attack and the arsonist cited Shapiro’s support for Israel as his motive.   

These attacks, according to Silber, are distinct from other antisemitic incidents that have occurred in recent years, such as the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh — which remains the deadliest attack on Jews on U.S. soil — and the 2022 hostage-taking at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. 

“The key element that’s different here is the motivation of the attacks,” Silber said. The Tree of Life shooter was motivated by HIAS immigration actions and the Colleyville shooter was looking to get an al-Qaida fighter freed. “Of course, antisemitism is the broad brush,” he continued, “but if you look at recent attacks, they are really attacks against Jewish communities in the U.S. because American Jews are stand-ins for the Israelis that these attackers can’t reach.” 

CSI is responding in “a multitude of different ways,” Silber said. “It’s been a tsunami of requests from organizations.” 

“We’re encouraging any Jewish institution or organization to let us know if they are having an event and that way we can let local law enforcement know,” Silber continued, adding that the group’s new plans include subsidizing armed guards to complement law enforcement at outdoor events hosted by Jewish organizations, as well as expanding its team of analysts searching on social media, surface web and dark web for threats.  

“We have more hands on keyboards to give ourselves a better chance of detecting a Boulder or D.C. before it happens,” Silber said. 

Community Security Service, a group that provides self-defense and safety training to Jewish institutions, also told JI it is beefing up services in light of the recent attacks. 

“Both of the attacks within a two-week timespan have been accompanied by the same kind of slogans that we’ve been hearing on college campuses and yelled at synagogues,” said Richard Priem, CEO of CSS. “That is a new manifestation. Of course we are concerned.” 

Following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and ensuing war in Gaza, CSS saw a dramatic increase in Jewish communities requesting security support, which lasted for about a year, according to Priem. “But over the last two weeks, we’ve had dozens of inquiries from organizations,” he said. 

“We are making sure that more quarters of the community use the training that we have for them,” Priem said. “Not just by deploying volunteers for large- or small-scale events but also just giving them guidance and training on how to organize themselves in a way that makes them less vulnerable.”

“We will open some community-wide training sessions in the coming weeks that are open to anyone to give awareness to pre-attack indicators,” he continued. “We have to get out of this mindset that the only way we’re going to solve this is by outsourcing to more companies. We’re not going to get out of this situation unless we as a community start taking ownership and realize we have to do training. We have to pay attention. Whether there’s an increased threat or not, people should do preventative training now.” 

Marc Calcano, a former NYPD officer who runs a New York City-based private security firm with several high-profile Jewish clients, echoed that “the level of terror” American Jews face is “extremely high right now” and warned that the Boulder attack, in particular, could be easily replicated.

“I instruct individuals and large groups but I think it’s time for us to do this on a larger scale, which is creating an institution where many can come, here in New York and other states to learn how to physically defend yourself,” Calcano said.  

The Jewish community can use fear “to its advantage,” he continued. “We have to learn how to protect ourselves.”  

The murder of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim is a reminder “of the dreams that terrorism seeks to destroy every single day,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Monday, standing alongside Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar at a memorial event held in Jerusalem for the young Israeli Embassy staffers who were killed last week in a terror attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington.

“Today, we stand together with profound grief, and our hearts are heavy with the loss of these two radiant souls that we will no longer have with us,” Noem said. “In this moment of sorrow, we also ask that you would gather with us to honor their light and the unbreakable spirit of the Israeli and the American people,” Noem continued. 

Lischinsky, Noem said, “was known for his infectious smile and his unwavering commitment to peace and the vision of the Abraham Accords.” 

“Friends and family shared of Sarah that she glowed with warmth and compassion, dedicating her life to fostering peace and understanding,” Noem said, mentioning ​Milgrim’s work for the Israeli peace-building nonprofit Tech2Peace and her career in public diplomacy. “Their love for each other, a bond that was so strong that Yaron had already chosen a ring to propose to Sarah here in Jerusalem reminds us of the dreams that terrorism seeks to destroy every single day — but we will not let hatred have the final word.” 

“Sarah and Yaron’s lives are a testament to the power of love and service,” Noem said. “They stood for something that was much larger than themselves, and their memory calls us to do the same. They have lived a life of significance that has forever changed us. Together they embody the very best of Israel: courageous, hopeful and dedicated to peace.” 

Sa’ar thanked Noem for her visit to Israel, which he said, “shows solidarity and demonstrates the close relations between our people.” He also thanked the U.S. government for the investigation into the murder of Lischinsky and Milgrim.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also spoke at the event, held at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters, and said that the memories of Lischinsky and Milgrim “will not be taken from any of us, and we should always be mindful that there are people who pay an incredible price to simply be Israelis and Jews.” 

“And it’s why the United States must always stand, and it’s why it’s so very important that we welcome the secretary here to the State of Israel as she comes to offer in person an extraordinary sense — not just of condolences — but also a sense of confidence that the relationship between our nations will never waver, or will it ever falter.”

The remarks by both the American and Israeli officials emphasizing the importance of the strong bonds between the U.S. and Israel come amid recent reports about faltering ties, especially during President Donald Trump’s recent visit to the Middle East, which excluded Israel, and amid the Trump administration’s ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Noem arrived in Israel on Sunday evening when Jerusalem Day began, marking the city’s reunification in the 1967 Six-Day War, which made her the first U.S. cabinet secretary to mark that day, according to Huckabee. She prayed at the Western Wall and put a note between its cracks.

Noem later met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which she “expressed unqualified support for the prime minister and the State of Israel,” a Prime Minister’s Office readout stated. 

She also praised the border fence between Israel and Egypt, the PMO stated. The fence, which was completed in 2013, was built, in part, to block African migrants from crossing into Israel from the Sinai peninsula.

Noem also met last night with her counterpart, Itamar Ben-Gvir, in a meeting which was also attended by Netanyahu. According to a statement from Ben-Gvir’s office, the minister thanked Noem for American support for Israel and for Trump’s relocation plan for Gaza. The statement also noted that Noem invited Ben-Gvir for another visit to the U.S. During his last visit, in April, the far-right minister did not meet with Noem, who was in Texas at the time, nor anyone else in the Trump administration.

JI’s Lahav Harkov contributed to this report.