Eight major organizations serving the Jewish community of New York and New Jersey announced Tuesday a new joint security initiative called the NY/NJ Jewish Alliance.
The new community safety effort is to “create defense information, training and resources,” according to a press release at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) headquarters in Manhattan. His release follows a series of violent anti-Semitic incidents that have threatened synagogues in the New York area.
The new partnership is made up of the five Jewish Federations of New York and New Jersey, the ADL, the Community Safety Initiative (CSI) of New York, a joint program of the UJA-Federation of New York and JCRC-NY; Northeast Division of the Community Security Service (CSS).
Its goals include providing security advice and training to Jewish organizations and serving as a central point of contact for federal and local agencies on questions and incidents regarding the security of the Jewish community in the New York metropolitan area and New Jersey.
“Collaboration is essential. Coordination and understanding are critical in times of crisis,” said Evan Bernstein, CEO of CSS.
“Today we formed these local partnerships with the Jewish Security Alliance of NY and NJ. It’s something that needs to be replicated across the United States,” Bernstein continued.
“We can’t work in silos. These types of organizations make our Jewish community safer. When we can share information and coordinate efforts with law enforcement, we all benefit. This has to be done as an organization, not something isolated. The rise of anti-Semitism is not going away. As a Jewish community , we can’t let people who hate us stop us from practicing Judaism. Safety and security are essential, and these companies only help us and make us safer. We are proud to be partners of this company in NY and NJ.”
Gideon Taylor added: “As CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC-NY), I am very pleased to see this collaborative partnership where CSI works with Jewish federations across the country to improve the well-being of our communities.”
The year 2022 saw a significant increase in antisemitic hate crimes in New York in particular and in the United States in general. In the Big Apple, attacks against Jews will increase by 41% in 2022, according to an analysis of crime data by The Algemeiner.
According to the new report, there were a total of 293 anti-Semitic incidents in 2022, up from 207 in 2021.
New York and New Jersey ranked first and third, respectively, among the states with the highest number of reported anti-Semitic incidents.
