90% of Anti-Terror Grants Go to Jewish Groups

Security at a Cost: Congregation B?nai Israel of Staten Island installs new windows, paid for by a federal grant. Image by Claudio Papapietro

By JTA September 1, 2013

Some 90 percent of the $10 million in funding announced by the Department of Homeland Security to help nonprofit organizations protect themselves from terrorism went to Jewish institutions.

The total amount of grants, announced Aug. 29, is slightly up from last year’s $9.7 million.

“The Department of Homeland Security has demonstrated a great commitment to protecting at-risk communities,” said Michael Siegal, chair of the Jewish Federations of North America’s board of trustees.

The Jewish Federations of North America and the Orthodox Union were instrumental in making sure the Homeland Security’s Nonprofit Security Grant program was continued.

Since Congress established the program in 2005, a total of $138 million has been distributed across the country to help at-risk nonprofits acquire and install physical security enhancements and undertake preparedness training, the JFNA announced.

“Since September 11, nonprofits generally, and Jewish communal institutions specifically, have been the victim of an alarming number of threats and attacks,” said William C. Daroff, vice president for public policy and director of the Washington office of Jewish Federations.

Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation over the past decade have alerted local officials and the Jewish community about particular terror threats.

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