The quiet work of community security directors and federal agents has derailed “tens—perhaps dozens—of potentially fatal attacks” on Jewish institutions in North America since Hamas’s October 7 massacre, Eric Fingerhut, president and chief executive of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), told The Jerusalem Post during a visit to the paper’s studios this week.
The former Ohio congressman did not provide precise figures, citing ongoing investigations, but said plots had been uncovered in multiple states against synagogues, day schools and public events. “These cases never reached the headlines because the perpetrators were intercepted first,” he noted. “That success should not obscure how many attempts were made—or how much vigilance is still required.”
Fingerhut’s remarks came four days after an attack that was not thwarted: the shooting deaths of Israeli Embassy employees Sarah Lynn Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky outside Washington’s Capital Jewish Museum on 22 May. Prosecutors allege that Elias Rodriguez, 30, travelled from Chicago, waited outside a reception organized by the American Jewish Committee, shouted “Free Palestine,” and opened fire at close range. He has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and terrorism-related offences.
The current Jewish security architecture was built in response to the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh. In its aftermath, JFNA launched LiveSecure, a matching-grant program that enabled local federations to hire former law-enforcement professionals, install surveillance systems, and run active-shooter drills.
“Before Pittsburgh, only a handful of communities employed full-time security directors,” Fingerhut recalled. “Today, 130 of our 140 federations do, and the remaining few will fill those posts before year-end.”
Those directors liaise daily with the Secure Community Network (SCN) and the FBI, sharing intelligence on extremist chatter and coordinating with local police. The endeavour relies heavily on the US Non-Profit Security Grant Program, whose annual budget has risen from roughly US $10 million a decade ago to US $500 million, funding reinforced doors, perimeter lighting, and alarm systems.
Fingerhut said the approach works. “Whenever I arrive in a new city, the first meeting is with the federation’s security lead. He or she can point to threats that were neutralised because suspicious online posts were flagged or a backpack of weapons was discovered before anyone was in danger.”
Lessons from Washington
The Washington shooting, however, exposed a vulnerability. Rodriguez remained outside the controlled perimeter and attacked departing guests. “The physical security was sound, but the geometry favoured the attacker,” Fingerhut acknowledged. “We are reviewing what failed and how to prevent a copycat incident.”
He contended that the federal government must assume greater responsibility. “This is domestic terrorism. Only Washington can allocate the analysts, agents, and uniformed officers required to track radicalisation across state lines and protect vulnerable sites. After 9/11 the United States created the Department of Homeland Security for aviation threats; a comparable effort is now needed to defend houses of worship.”
Fingerhut attributed many recent threats to social-media radicalisation. JFNA was the only major Jewish organisation to lobby openly for the law compelling TikTok’s Chinese parent to divest. “Extremist content is algorithmically amplified,” he said. “Regulating those algorithms is a public-safety imperative, not a free-speech violation.”
He also backed the US Department of Education’s civil-rights investigations of Harvard, Columbia and other universities that allowed anti-Israel encampments last spring. Harvard alone, he noted, received about US $9 billion in federal funds last year. “Public money carries public obligations. If administrators refuse to enforce their own rules on harassment and trespass, Washington must use the leverage it already possesses.”
Despite heightened anxiety, JFNA polling shows the “October 8 surge” in synagogue attendance, Hebrew-school enrolment and volunteerism remains robust. “People are leaning in, not retreating,” Fingerhut observed. “But communal confidence hinges on safety. Parents will not drop children at day school if they fear the car-pool lane.”
JFNA is expanding trauma counselling for embassy employees and communities rattled by threats. It is also pressing Congress to enlarge the Non-Profit Security Grant Program and to establish permanent domestic-terror units within the FBI.
Milgrim and Lischinsky, both in their twenties and reportedly weeks from engagement, exemplified the young professionals who staff Israel’s missions abroad. “Their murder reverberates far beyond Washington,” Fingerhut said. “Our task—ours and the government’s—is to ensure that the next assailant is stopped before more families are shattered.”
He concluded with the ledger that drives his advocacy. “So far, dozens of plots foiled, one that succeeded. The goal is to drive that second number back to zero while keeping Jewish life vigorous and unafraid.”
