May 19, after two days of advocacy on the part of Jewish federations all over the country, Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Democrat, and Sen. James Lankford, a Republican, introduced the Jewish American Security Act.
Led by national advocacy groups like the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Federations of North America, the act aims to increase funding for the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $1 billion, require large social media platforms to regularly report on content moderation practices and require schools to maintain well-publicized non-discrimination policies and grievance procedures, among other measures, according to an AJC news release.
If passed, the legislation will mobilize resources and institutions to fight antisemitism on every major front: physical locations, the internet/social media and schools. It is nothing short of a national agenda for the Jewish future, according to local federation leaders who went to Washington to lobby for it.
“We’re living at a critical time when antisemitism has risen, and Jews are not feeling safe. The number one responsibility of a government is to protect its citizens,” said Michael Balaban, the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
The bill was purposely introduced two days before the one-year anniversary of the Capital Jewish Museum shooting, which happened after an AJC event in Washington, D.C. Last year saw a series of violent antisemitic incidents on U.S. soil: that shooting, the arson attack at the governor’s mansion in Pennsylvania against Jewish governor Josh Shapiro and the molotov cocktails thrown at the Run for Their Lives demonstrators in Boulder. Those were followed up in early 2026 by the truck-ramming at the synagogue in suburban Detroit.
Also in 2025, the Anti-Defamation League tracked 6,274 antisemitic incidents nationwide, which was down from 2024’s record of 9,354, but still the third-highest total since the ADL began keeping track in 1979. This general environment was corroborated by an AJC survey released earlier this year: It found that 91% of American Jews said they felt less safe after the arson attack on Shapiro and that nearly 73% had experienced antisemitism online.
All of these alarming trends underscored the need for the Jewish American Security Act, according to Ted Deutch, the CEO of the AJC.
“No American should need a security perimeter to pray. No American should be afraid to leave their home or visit a cultural center of their choosing. Yet, that is exactly what Jews in this country are experiencing every day,” said Deutch in a statement. “We are at an inflection point. Surging antisemitism is not just a threat to the Jewish community; it is a crisis for our democracy and the values we cherish as Americans — pluralism, religious freedom, and the promise of equal protection. We thank Sens. Rosen and Lankford for their leadership and demonstrating that confronting this hatred is not a political issue, but a moral obligation.”
In supporting and advocating for the bill, Jewish groups were united. The coalition included non-partisan groups, like the AJC and the JFNA; partisan groups, such as the Jewish Democratic Council of America and the Republican Jewish Coalition; and denominational groups, like the Orthodox Union, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Union for Reform Judaism.
There was consensus across the American Jewish world on the national agenda for the Jewish future.
“What we essentially have now is a Jewish tax. It costs an exorbitant amount of money at synagogues, JCCs and other Jewish organizations just to have adequate security,” said Russell Silberglied, a past president of the Jewish Federation of Delaware, who represented the Delaware delegation in the nation’s capital.
“Everybody needs to get behind this,” he added.
Balaban met with the senators from Pennsylvania – Republican Dave McCormick and Democrat John Fetterman – as well as other members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation. Silberglied said the Delaware group sat down staff members from the offices of the first state’s U.S. senators — Democrats Chris Coons and Lisa Blunt-Rochester — as well as other members of the state’s delegation.
Both federation leaders found their elected officials to be responsive. In total, about 400 leaders from 82 communities took part in the “fly-in,” as it was labeled in press materials.
“Last month in Michigan, if not for armed security guards, we probably would have seen the worst attack on Americans since 9/11,” Balaban said of his message to the officials, referring to the attack on the Detroit-area synagogue, which was thwarted by security guards. “This stuff is critical.”
Silberglied explained that, while such messages were “positively received,” senators, congresspeople and their staff can’t commit to supporting a bill until they’ve read it. That’s why the push needs to continue.
Balaban said the messages will “be consistent until the bills are passed.” Silberglied said the next step is to reach back out once they’ve had time to “read and digest the legislation.”