Iran’s missile attack on Israel on Tuesday evening caused scattered damage and fires from falling shrapnel, but authorities said there were no injuries.
That is a fact that Ron Halber, chief executive officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, called “a miracle.”
The Tuesday attack, however, is renewing calls for more money to secure Jewish institutions in the D.C. region as those locations remain on “high alert,” since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas last year and its anniversary looms.
“In my synagogue, you have to have a police officer if you’re having a bar mitzvah,” Halber said.
Halber said more money is needed on a local and federal level to help synagogues and schools pay for armed security.
“A synagogue could easily be spending $150,000 to $250,000 a year on hiring off-duty police officers at a rate of $90 an hour,” he said.
While the threat from terror organizations based overseas are possible here in the U.S., Halber said he believes the main threat are homegrown terrorists.
He added that he also realizes the Jewish community isn’t alone in a need for more security, citing past threats against members of the Asian American community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a sad fact that we have to spend this kind of money, because I’d rather see that money going for social programs and help people, but our first obligation has to be to keep American citizens safe,” Halber said.
In a statement to WTOP, a D.C. police spokesperson said while there are no known threats to the city following Iran’s attack on Israel, the department urges the community to remain vigilant.
Montgomery County police in Maryland said they are not aware of any active threats at this time, “but police presence will be increased around Jewish institutions,” a spokesperson said.
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