In a letter to members of the House Homeland Security Committee’s Counterterrorism and Intelligence subcommittee, the Jewish Federations of North America highlighted the significant security costs facing the Jewish community, as advocates push for additional security assistance from the federal government at a time of heightened antisemitism.

The JFNA letter states that, nationally, the Jewish community spends more than $765 million each year on security expenses, and that 14% of the annual budget of “a typical Jewish organization” is dedicated to security costs.

The letter highlights that each security guard typically costs Jewish institutions $90,000 annually, while a community security director costs $160,000.

“We also know that these measures are critical for Jewish life to flourish, finding that 60% of Jews say that security precautions make them feel safer,” the letter reads. “They see the addition of police, security guards, and hardening of buildings as the most effective.”

“It is a fundamental right for all Americans to practice their faith freely and without threats and intimidation,” the letter continues. “We urge this Subcommittee to advance concrete, bipartisan solutions that address the growing threat environment and reflect the urgent needs of faith-based and vulnerable communities nationwide.”

JFNA has called on lawmakers to provide $1 billion annually for the chronically underfunded Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which helps nonprofits offset security costs. In 2024, 36% of security grant recipients were Jewish institutions, including synagogues and Jewish community centers.

“As you head to your districts for the upcoming recess, we wanted to call your attention to the immense financial burden the Jewish community faces simply to keep itself safe,” the letter reads. “With antisemitic incidents and attacks continuing to grow, it is critical that Congress act to defend faith communities.”

The letter reiterates the NSGP funding request, as well as other issues on which JFNA and other Jewish organizations have advocated, including dedicated federal funding for security guards, expanding efforts to counter domestic terrorism, increasing funding for state and local law enforcement, addressing antisemitism on social media and forcefully prosecuting hate crimes.

“These are not abstract priorities,” the letter states. “They reflect what we hear every day from communities on the ground that are being forced to divert vital resources to pay for armed guards, harden facilities, and live in fear.”

The House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence will hold a hearing on Wednesday morning probing the rising influence of anti-Israel extremist groups as a threat to U.S. national security.

The hearing is set to include testimony from representatives of the Anti-Defamation League, Secure Community Network, American Jewish Committee and the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind the Project Esther proposal to combat antisemitism.

Based on written testimony reviewed by Jewish Insider, SCN’s deputy director of intelligence, Kerry Sleeper, is planning to highlight data showing that threats to the lives of Jews are likely to increase 40% in 2025 in comparison with the previous year, that 6,000 violent online threats to the Jewish community were posted following the Capital Jewish Museum murders last month and that domestic antisemitic radicalization has surged in the past year, increasing the likelihood of further attacks.

Sleeper will recommend that the administration put together a national strategy to ensure Jewish security, with input from all levels of law enforcement and Jewish security organizations, to be implemented by a dedicated national task force; improve intelligence sharing among security groups and federal and local law enforcement; establish a dedicated analysis unit at the Department of Homeland Security to monitor antisemitic threats; address the role of online extremist networks; and establish a task force on Jewish security including federal, state and local law enforcement.

Julie Fishman Rayman, AJC’s senior vice president for policy and political affairs, will highlight the threat posed by terrorist and anti-Israel groups to Jewish safety, as well as data showing that Jews are equally afraid of threats from the political left and right, an AJC spokesperson said.

Fishman Rayman will also urge Congress to provide at least $500 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program; support the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) at the Department of Homeland Security, aimed at preventing terrorism through partnerships between law enforcement, the private sector and communities; advocate for an interagency national strategy and coordinator to combat antisemitism; and pass legislation limiting legal protections for social media.

ProPublica recently revealed that the administration picked a 22-year-old recent college graduate who lacks any apparent national security expertise to lead CP3.

Oren Segal, the senior vice president of counter-extremism and intelligence at the ADL, will highlight recent antisemitic attacks tied to anti-Israel extremism and the ways that the attacks have been normalized and justified on social media. 

“They fuel an environment where targeted attacks against the Jewish community become increasingly likely,” Segal will say, per his prepared remarks. “While the grievances driving this violence are often framed as opposition to Israel, they frequently include expressions dehumanizing Zionists and Jews, and support for terrorist groups. When Jews are blamed for the policies of Israel, it is not only antisemitic — it is dangerous.”

He will point to the way that the groups Samidoun and Unity of Fields as well as some Students for Justice in Palestine chapters have spread terrorist propaganda and received funding with little oversight or examination.

“Despite years of warnings and mounting data, antisemitism, and the violence it often animates, continues to be dismissed, minimized, and politicized,” he will testify.

Segal will call for Congress to increase NSGP funding, fund programs like CP3, “empower” the administration’s antisemitism task force with a mandate and resources to work across agencies, pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act and the HEAL Act, address antisemitism on social media and crack down on those who provide material support for terrorism.

James Carafano, a senior counselor and fellow at Heritage, will be testifying on behalf of the think tank. Heritage did not provide a preview of his testimony, but directed JI to his past public writings, which have called for refocusing U.S. counterterrorism efforts against Islamist extremism and described the conservative movement as a home for American Jews.

Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), who chairs the subcommittee, told The Daily Signal that the antisemitic threat level is the highest it’s been in decades.

Pfluger said the hearing aims to analyze potential connections “between this terrorist style mindset, illegal immigration, online radicalization, and those that would perpetrate crimes that are associated with an anti-Jewish, antisemitic type of narrative,” with the goal of understanding the radicalization process.