[OP-ED] The Jerusalem Post: A Dangerous New Chapter: The Threat of North American Domestic Terror

For years, officials have tracked the growing threat of Iranian proxies and sleeper cells operating in North America at Tehran’s direction. The FBI has foiled assassination plots targeting John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, and activist Masih Alinejad, but some threats have slipped through the cracks.

In 2022, a Hezbollah sympathizer stabbed and nearly killed Salman Rushdie in New York, after the author had lived for decades under an ayatollah fatwa for his 1988 book, The Satanic Verses.

Since October 7, and now following US military strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, this threat has grown, not just rhetorically, but operationally.

On a recent Secure Community Network (SCN) call organized with the FBI and DHS, I warned that Jewish institutions in North America are now “at elevated risk.” To be clear, the strikes were not the genesis of this nexus, but they marked a turning point.

We must make no mistake: The enemies of Israel and America are not standing down from their extraterritorial terror campaigns targeting Jews and the West. If you still think that an Iranian-linked attack can’t happen here, just look at the past few months.

In December, an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi was abducted and murdered in the United Arab Emirates, an act that Emirati officials attributed to terrorism – and which intelligence agencies linked to Iran. Four months later, Azerbaijani authorities disrupted another Iranian-directed plot to assassinate a rabbi.
In North America, during Passover, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home was firebombed. In May, two Israeli embassy staffers were shot in Washington, DC. Then came the Boulder attack, where Molotov cocktails were hurled at a peaceful vigil for Israeli hostages, and this week came word that an 82-year-old woman, one of 13 injured, had died from the wounds she sustained in the attack.

Since October 7, SCN has tracked over 10,000 threat incidents impacting the Jewish community in North America. Just this year, we have flagged over 500 credible threats to life that required immediate law enforcement intervention. That number is expected to surpass 700 by year’s end, a 40 percent year-over-year increase.

Online, the hate is rampant and open. Social media users are posting messages like, “Your local synagogue and JCC can double as a shooting range,” and “No amount of fearmongering will stop us from supporting armed resistance… Globalize the intifada.” In the week after the May 21 embassy shooting in DC, SCN flagged nearly 6,000 online threatening posts targeting Jews.

Each attack is praised and used to incite the next one. “Globalize the intifada” is no longer just an online slogan. It is being shouted in the streets, written into manifestos, and invoked during violent targeted attacks against Jews and any perceived Western involvement in Israel’s ongoing conflict with Hamas.

We cannot eliminate all risk, but we can do more to confront it. As SCN recently urged Congress, this starts with a unified national strategy involving Congress, federal agencies, law enforcement, institutions, and private security groups together to share intelligence, strengthen information sharing, and bolster security.
Law enforcement needs to fully prosecute hate crimes and violent extremism, while social media platforms must be held accountable when they enable radicalization or incitement.

College campuses must stop tolerating pro-terror demonstrations. Students and faculty who glorify designated terrorist organizations should face consequences. Additionally, non-citizens found to have materially supported designated foreign terrorist groups must have their visas revoked.

Congress must expand the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program. These grants fund reinforced windows, security cameras, access controls, and trained security personnel. In 2024, funding levels were insufficient to meet demand. These grants are not a luxury. They are essential to keeping vulnerable communities safe.

And most importantly, the Jewish community must continue to lead.

Synagogues, day schools, and community centers must implement best-practice security protocols. These steps should be rooted in resilience, not fear. Community members should be trained, alert, and engaged. Security means participation, not withdrawal.

We must continue showing up. We need people to report what they see to law enforcement. And we need universities, civic leaders, business executives, elected officials, and everyday citizens to resist the normalization of antisemitism.

Jew-hatred must never become normal. We will not live in fear, and we will lead with the unshakable belief that faith-based life in America is worth defending.

By SCN National Director & CEO Michael Masters

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