At the Jerusalem Post Washington Conference on Tuesday, Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), made an urgent appeal for the US government to strengthen protections for Jewish and other faith communities amid increasing antisemitic attacks.
Fingerhut, a former member of the United States Congress, said that as both a former legislator and current representative of Jewish communities nationwide he felt compelled to address “one of the most fundamental responsibilities of government – to protect the safety and security of people of faith when they gather." He warned that America’s core promise of religious freedom “will be eroded permanently if people cannot gather safely because of harassment and threats.”
Fingerhut went on to cite a series of violent incidents from recent years, noting that “just in 2025, two people [were] killed here in Washington, DC because they were a young couple attending a Jewish event.” Looking further back, he recalled deadly attacks in Muncie, Jersey City, Poway, and, seven years ago, the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, the worst and most violent attack in the history of the United States of America against Jews.
Fingerhut emphasized that the Jewish community has invested significantly in its security, citing the $130 million LiveSecure initiative that transformed the security landscape for North American Jewry. “We now have a full-time professional community security director in every single community,” he said, and every Jewish institution now budgets for protective measures. “But it’s not enough. We need more help.”
This summer, Jewish Federations unveiled a six-point policy plan to secure the Jewish community.
Rising security personnel costs “must be covered,” he insisted, and both local and federal law enforcement “need our support” as they face increasing demands. Fingerhut also warned about online radicalization, saying “every single one of the attackers could be found to have been activated and educated and recruited on social media.” He called for rigorous “prosecution, prosecution, prosecution of every single incident of harassment.” Concluding with a reference to George Washington’s 1790 letter to the Jewish community of Newport, R.I., he urged Congress to ensure that “everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make them afraid.”
“In this 250th year of American independence,” he said, “let’s work to make the words of our first president true once again.”
Written in collaboration with JFNA