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Jewish Institutions Bolster Security Ahead of High Holidays as Experts Warn of Heightened Threat
Anti-Israel protesters target a synagogue in Queens, New York on July 14, 2024. Photo: Screenshot
Amid a continuing surge in antisemitic hate crimes, Jewish institutions in the US have beefed up their security measures for the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which this year fall around the one-year anniversary of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
The heightened security efforts also come as Israel expands its operations against the terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon and vows to respond to a massive missile attack from Iran, the chief international sponsor of both Hamas and Hezbollah.
Although there are no indicators of specific imminent threats against Jewish institutions, law enforcement officials have warned that “lone wolf” agitators could spark violence in the upcoming days.
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) ramped up patrols around Jewish institutions on Monday. The police department will also monitor for potential explosive devices at bridges and radiation detection.
Police departments in other major US cities such as Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, and Philadelphia have also indicated that they will increase patrols surrounding Jewish institutions and houses of worship in an effort to prevent potential antisemitic violence from breaking out. Officials belonging to police departments across the country have stated that they hope bolstering security measures will quell anxieties among local Jewish community members.
Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Center on Extremism, told The Algemeiner that although the organization has not detected any threats against Jewish houses of worship, they should be prepared for the possibility of an attack.
“What we have previously told Jewish institutions is that at this time, there is no known credible threat to the Jewish Community in the US,” Segal said. “Accordingly, we are advising institutions to remain open and operational throughout the upcoming High Holiday season. However, given the heightened tensions and increased risk to the community at this time, we recommend institutions review and implement a series of security precautions and procedures.”
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins on Wednesday at sundown. Yom Kippur, considered the holiest day in Judaism known as the Day of Atonement, commences next Friday at sundown. Together, they are known as the High Holidays.
A slew of anti-Israel activist groups have organized demonstrations for Monday to commemorate the anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. These groups have routinely — and erroneously — referred to the Oct. 7 onslaught, the largest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, as the beginning of a so-called “genocide” in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Anti-Israel groups such as Writers Against the War on Gaza, Incite! Palestine Force, and Samidoun have organized demonstrations in the upcoming week to draw attention to the plight of Palestinians. Another such organization called Within Our Lifetime is calling on its supporters to go “all out for Gaza” on Oct. 7 by skipping school and work to participate in a mass protest.
The expected surge in anti-Israel demonstrations during the Jewish high holidays, combined with the looming anniversary of Oct. 7, has some experts worried over the safety of Jews.
“The Jewish community is facing the most significant threat towards the community in modern history,” Kerry Sleeper — deputy director of intelligence and information sharing for the Secure Community Network, a consultancy for the national US Jewish community — told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). “The combination of High Holidays, the 10/7 anniversary, and now the potential for the world’s largest terrorist organization [Hezbollah] to exact revenge on either Israeli facilities, embassies, or consulates, or prominent Jewish leaders or prominent Israeli leaders anywhere in the world.”
Some experts fear that individuals tied to Hezbollah, which is Iran’s chief proxy force, could seek to execute an attack on American soil against the Jewish community. US agencies have foiled potential terrorist attacks by Hezbollah members in recent years and warned of potential future threats from sleeper cells.
The fears stem in part from Israel’s recent operations in Lebanon decimating Hezbollah’s top leadership. The Jewish state has also initiated ground operations in Lebanon with the reported goal of establishing a buffer zone between the two countries after Hezbollah has spent the past year attacking northern Israeli with drones, missiles, and rockets, forcing tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes.
Jonathan Schanzer, a vice president at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JTA that Jewish citizens of less “security minded” countries within Europe and Latin America are more at risk of a Hezbollah attack than those residing in the United States. However, Schanzer said he “wouldn’t rule out an attempt to cross into the United States, or an effort to activate cells that are already here.”
Security concerns also stem from the global surge in antisemitism since the Oct. 7 massacre, which unleashed a tsunami of anti-Jewish hate that has seen several countries around the world, especially the US and European nations, record record levels of antisemitic incidents.
Last week, for example, a new report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) showed that anti-Jewish hate crimes in the US spiked to a record high last year, and American Jews were the most targeted of any religious group in the country.
The FBI data came after the ADL released a report in April showing antisemitic incidents in the US rose 140 percent last year, reaching a record high of 8,873 outrages — an average of 24 every day. Most of the incidents occurred after Oct. 7, during the ensuing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
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Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire
Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
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Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel
People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
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Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns
Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
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