“This attack represents a natural culmination of what we’ve seen over the last 600 days. People who are rationalizing the murder of Jews,” said William Daroff, of the Conference of Presidents.

By Jonathan D.Salant, JNS

Representatives of a stunned U.S. Jewish community said in a conference call with reporters on Thursday that current levels of protection are insufficient after a gunman shot and killed Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, both employees of the Israeli embassy, outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., the prior night.

“This is definitely an escalation,” Adam Neufeld, chief operating officer of the Anti-Defamation League, told reporters. “The social norm against this kind of violence is sadly fraying and if we don’t do something, it will fray further.”

Antisemitic incidents have spiked since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, reaching a record 9,354 incidents last year, per the ADL.

William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, called the shootings “another wakeup call.”

“We are knocking on that door yet again,” he said on the call. “This attack represents a natural culmination of what we’ve seen over the last 600 days. People who are rationalizing the murder of Jews.”

The ADL and the Conference of Presidents joined the Jewish Federations of North America, American Jewish Committee and the Secure Community Network in calling for more security funding and a greater federal effort to protect U.S. Jews from rising Jew-hatred.

“Since October 2023, we have seen a rising level of incitement, harassment and inciting language, all of which leads inevitably to violence,” Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of the Federation, said on the call.

“It is apparent to all of us that the level of security that our community needs is greater today than it’s ever been and the need for enhanced security is greater than it’s ever been,” he said. “Much, much, much more needs to be done at this critical time to face the rising threat levels and confront a growing problem of domestic terror.”

The groups called for an immediate increase in the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which U.S. President Donald Trump froze temporarily, and said that the monies must be allowed to be used not just for hardware like hardened doors, cameras and bollards, but also for off-duty police and other security guards.

“The most significant and fastest-rising cost is the personnel costs,” Fingerhut told reporters. “We need to protect ourselves. It is not right that the institutions must shoulder this increasing cost.”

The Jewish leaders also called for more police patrols and more resources for the FBI and federal law enforcement to uncover and respond to threats before they are carried out. There must also be more prosecutions of hate crimes, the leaders said.

The speakers on the call blamed social media for fanning the flames that led to Wednesday’s killings.

“There must be an aggressive effort to address the hate that is being spewed,” Fingerhut said.

In the interim, the ADL, Federation, Secure Community Network, Community Security Service and Community Security Initiative of New York issued a series of recommendations to increase following the shootings.

Those include coordinating with local law enforcement, setting up security perimeters further away from events, limiting attendance to those who are pre-screened or known to the organizers, providing details about time and place only to those who have registered and considering having law enforcement officers, private security or volunteers.

Per the Justice Department complaint, the suspect accused of killing the Israeli embassy staffers “stated that he had purchased a ticket to the event at the museum approximately three hours prior to its commencement.”

The Jewish leaders said during the call with reporters that they will launch an aggressive lobbying effort to get their recommendations into law. They plan to call upon their well-used networks of advocates on Capitol Hill to make the case, they said.

“They all are deeply experienced and embedded on Capitol Hill,” Fingerhut said. “We intend to fully mobilize that network. That’s how we will be pursuing this.”

“We have dozens and dozens of community activists,” Daroff said. “This is something that is very much within our DNA.”