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During a Jewish community vigil on Tuesday at Seattle’s Temple De Hirsch Sinai, Lt. Gov. Denny Heck shared how he thanked security guards as he entered the building for keeping everyone safe during the event.
“But security for a house of worship, a most sacred of place? It shouldn’t be necessary,” he said. “But we know it is. You have known it since before this weekend. You knew it before the tragedy at the Tree of Life (synagogue) five years ago. You have known it for a long period of time.”
Heck was referring to the 2018 shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue. And Seattle’s Jewish community is no stranger to violence: In July 2006, one person was killed and five others were injured after Naveed Haq, a Tri-Cities resident of Pakistani descent, opened fire inside the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. Haq, who railed against Jews and U.S.-Israel policies during the shooting, received a life sentence in 2010.
Now security concerns among Jewish residents of Puget Sound – and throughout the U.S. – are high again following a surprise attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas that has left nearly 1,200 people dead. An estimated 1,400 people in Gaza have died in Israel’s reprisals after the Hamas attack, according to The Associated Press.
On Friday, Jewish organizations, synagogues and schools were on high alert after receiving word that former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called for global Muslim protests on that day and urged other neighboring countries to join Palestine in fighting Israel.
But even before Meshaal’s call, many Jewish organizations and places of worship began increasing security around their buildings. Many have improved security using grants from the federal government from a program started in 2004 after the Jewish Federations of North America urged Congress to support the security needs of nonprofits to prevent terrorist or extremist attacks. While the program was established at the urging of U.S. Jewish communities, many non-Jewish nonprofits have received grants since the program’s inception.
On Monday, the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle emailed updates on what is happening in Israel and outlined comprehensive security measures Jewish institutions should implement.
“This is part of the normal operating procedures of every Jewish organization in the country,” said Max Patashnik, director of government affairs for the Seattle organization.