For those who have never had to enter a place of worship and scan for exits or send their children to school fearing they may be targeted, the necessity of security funding may seem abstract. But for the US Jewish community, it is a lived reality marked with every synagogue that installs reinforced doors, every school that adds surveillance cameras, and every community center that enhances its emergency alert system.
This is because history has taught us that the cost of being unprepared is too often measured in the loss of human life.
When a gunman entered the Tree of Life building in Pittsburgh in 2018, murdering 11 worshipers in what remains the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history, the Jewish community across the country felt the impact. When Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, became the site of a hostage crisis in 2022, Jewish institutions nationwide re-evaluated their security protocols overnight. These tragedies are not just news headlines. They are wounds carried by a community that has been targeted for millennia.
As Congress enters a critical period for budget appropriations, federal spending is under scrutiny amid executive orders from the administration to “maximize governmental efficiency and productivity” as well as “eliminat[e] waste”, “to restore accountability to the American public.”
When it comes to public safety, we should be having healthy discussions about how and where to invest in programs that have real, measurable impact. The federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) is one of the most effective and critical programs for protecting the Jewish community and all faith-based communities from attack.
At a time when hate and violence against Jews across this country are at historic levels, the NSGP has provided life-saving funding to protect Jewish communities and institutions. The Secure Community Network (SCN), which works closely with local Jewish institutions to facilitate grant applications and implement security measures, has seen firsthand how these funds prevent tragedy.
The administration has been clear: federal funding should be targeted toward programs that align with national priorities and demonstrate tangible impact. The NSGP meets these criteria in three critical ways:
An urgent threat
The Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement, including the FBI, have consistently warned that Jewish institutions face disproportionate threats of violence. The FBI’s most recent data shows that antisemitic hate crimes make up 67% of religiously motivated hate crimes, despite Jewish Americans representing just 2% of the population.
The White House itself has recognized this crisis, laying out extensive efforts to protect Jewish Americans through executive orders, and, just this month, the Justice Department announced a newly formed multi-agency Task Force to Combat Antisemitism. Supporting NSGP funding for Jewish institutions goes hand in hand with this commitment.
Enhancing security saves lives
NSGP funds provide tangible security upgrades from bollards to prevent vehicular attacks, reinforced doors to keep intruders out, CCTV cameras to monitor threats, and emergency alert systems that allow rapid response, to name a few. These are not luxuries, they are essential, life-saving tools. In July 2023, when an armed gunman attempted to breach the Margolin Hebrew Academy in Memphis, NSGP-funded access control doors prevented the shooter from entering the school, and SCN, in coordination with the Memphis Jewish Federation and law enforcement, used surveillance footage and rapid response protocols to help identify and support law enforcement efforts to apprehend the suspect before he could harm anyone.
In 2021, when gunfire struck the Jewish Family Service building in Denver, impact-resistant window filming – purchased with NSGP funds – stopped the bullets from penetrating into the facility, protecting those inside. These are not hypothetical scenarios, they are real examples of how NSGP funds prevent injuries and deaths.
Effective use of federal funds
Wasteful programs operate in ambiguity. Effective programs show results. The NSGP is an example of targeted, high-impact investment.
In 2024 alone, 51% of organizations that received SCN assessments were awarded NSGP funding, and 62% of NSGP funds applied for by Jewish institutions with SCN’s assistance were awarded. Working with institutions, SCN provides free facility assessments that document any vulnerabilities inside and outside of Jewish facilities, ensures that applications are thorough and well-organized to support application reviewers in the federal government, and works to connect awardees with vetted vendors to ensure taxpayer dollars are well-spent. Since this is a reimbursement grant, there are strict checks and balances in place that ensure accountability.
Any scaling back of support for the NSGP would be a step backward in protecting Jewish communities and the broader faith-based community from violent threats. It would mean fewer synagogues, Jewish schools, and community centers equipped with necessary security infrastructure that saves lives.
The program has long enjoyed bipartisan support, with lawmakers across the political spectrum recognizing that protecting places of worship and community institutions is not a partisan issue. Protecting places of worship preserves religious freedom in this country. As budget negotiations unfold, the administration and Congress have an opportunity to reinforce their commitment to fighting hate and protecting vulnerable communities.
Religious freedom is meaningless without the safety and security to express it. As a nation that prides itself on protecting its people, we must ensure that Jewish Americans and all faith- and freedom-loving Americans have the necessary resources to safeguard their sanctuaries and sacred spaces.
We urge the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Government Efficiency, and our Congressional lawmakers to stand firm and fully fund the NSGP consistent with this administration’s clear priority of protecting the Jewish community from unprecedented hate and violence, ensuring that Jewish institutions and all at-risk faith-based institutions and nonprofits have the resources they need to stay safe. When lives are on the line, security isn’t optional. It’s a necessity.
The writer serves as the national director and CEO of the Secure Community Network (SCN) – the official safety and security organization for the Jewish community in North America – and currently serves as an appointee of the US secretary of homeland security to the federal Homeland Security Advisory Council and Faith-Based Security Advisory Council.