“America’s Jewish community is under attack, and we need to take decisive action to save lives and mitigate the escalating threats,” intelligence expert Kerry Sleeper testified to the US House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence on Wednesday.

“The threat of targeted violence being faced by the Jewish-Israeli community is complex and continues to evolve; this threat will likely persist for at least the next decade,” he said.

Sleeper, who is the Deputy Director of Intelligence at Secure Community Network (SCN), urged the subcommittee to develop a task force to protect the Jewish community from threats in light of the recent attacks on Jews in the US and the threats to national security. He also thanked the subcommittee for “recognizing the urgency of this issue and for taking action to make both the Jewish community and our nation more secure.”

Sleeper testified that in every analytical brief since October 7, “SCN has produced has warned of rising threat [against Jews and Israelis], exacerbated by online incitement from Iranian-linked groups and designated foreign terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and ISIS.”

As part of his role, Sleeper oversees SCN’s 24/7 Jewish Security Operations Command Center and leads its intelligence coordination efforts with federal, state, and local law enforcement. He is also a retired police officer and former assistant director of the FBI.

A man, with an Israeli flag with a cross in the center, kneels next to emergency personnel working at the site where, according to the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary, two Israeli embassy staff were shot dead near the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., US May 21, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST)
A man, with an Israeli flag with a cross in the center, kneels next to emergency personnel working at the site where, according to the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary, two Israeli embassy staff were shot dead near the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., US May 21, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST)

Threats faced by the United States 

According to Sleeper’s testimony, analysts at SCN’s Jewish Security Operations Center work to identify, analyze, and communicate Threats to Life (TTLs) found online.

“Our well-trained and talented analysts utilize state-of-the-art technology and keyword algorithms to search the surface, deep, and dark web for threats specifically targeting the Jewish/Israeli community,” he said.

In 2024, SCN identified 500 TTLs that it subsequently shared with the FBI via an API (Application Programming Interface). Sleeper noted that the privilege of the API link to the FBI allows for “real-time transfer of high-priority threat intelligence.”

When SCN’s analysts identify a named subject and/or location, they “simultaneously notify the FBI, DHS, the appropriate state fusion center, local law enforcement, as well as the appropriate Jewish Security Director or Regional Director in that area of responsibility.”

“This multi-channeled alerting mechanism ensures comprehensive coordination across jurisdictions and agencies, and that mitigation efforts can begin immediately,” he explained.

The number of TTLs in 2025, however, is already set to surpass 2024, with an estimated 700. This reflects “the rising threat environment and the operational demand placed on our analysts,” Sleeper added.

For example, following the May 21 shooting outside the Capitol Jewish Museum in DC, which resulted in the killing of two Israeli embassy workers, SCN analysts identified 6,000 violent threats targeting the Jewish community posted on social media in just a one-week period.

Sleeper noted that such acts of violence or terror do not occur in a vacuum, pointing out that “SCN analysts identified online praise, glorification, and calls for replication,” which raises concern for copycat attacks.

As an example, following the June 1 Molotov cocktail attack on pro-Israel rally participants in Boulder, Colorado, SCN found that online rhetoric praised the attacker, further amplifying copycat concerns.

“These trends are fueled by a persistent ecosystem of anti-Israel networks operating in the US and online,” he said.Sleeper told the subcommittee that SCN had asked the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis to create an Intelligence Operations Strategy in April 2024, but that “little materialized from that request.”

The proposed intelligence strategy involved the development of an analytic cell with six analytic functions. The functions focus on timely communication of foreign and domestic threats, rapid threat assessment, timely dissemination of bulletins, and a renewed emphasis on Suspicious Activity Reporting.

Sleeper ended by praising the “essential work” done by groups such as SCN, the Center for Internet Security (CIS), ADL, and several other Jewish communal security organizations. He highlighted that these groups were “filling a void left by the federal government’s lack of comprehensive focus on this rapidly emerging threat.” While Sleeper said that law enforcement partners, like the FBI, are working “hand-in-hand with us to protect their Jewish communities,” he said there was a lack of a national strategy.

He asked that such a strategy be developed with input from federal, state, and local law enforcement and that it be managed by a task force comprised of the aforementioned representatives “with the specific focus of identifying and analyzing the threat for context in the Jewish community.”

He suggested that the task force include measures for protective actions based on intelligence, as well as coordinating strike teams across the country with the ability to arrest individuals threatening the Jewish community with acts of targeted violence.

SCN was founded in 2004 under the auspices of The Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. It collaborates with 50 national Jewish partner organizations, 146 Jewish Federations, and more than 350 independent communities, in addition to hundreds of law enforcement organizations, “to protect Jewish communities nationwide.”