(JNS) Two organizations dedicated to the security of the Jewish communities have announced a partnership to improve the safety of the community nationwide.

The Anti-Defamation League and the Community Security Service will each utilize their strengths to enhance the work of the other as Jews continue to be targeted for harassment or assault in person and in the cybersphere. According to hate-crime statistics released this summer by the FBI, crimes against the Jewish community comprised 60 percent of all religion-based hate crimes in the United States in 2020.

“Each of our organizations plays a distinct role in the ongoing fight against the rise of anti-Semitism and the myriad of violent extremist actors targeting our community,” said Evan Bernstein, national director and CEO of CSS. “At the same time, in order for us as a community to lower our vulnerability in the face of tangible threats and intractable issues like anti-Jewish animus, it is incumbent upon us to pool our resources and expertise in meaningful and measurable ways.”

CSS relies on a cadre of community volunteers to secure local institutions, especially synagogues. Experts from the ADL’s Center on Extremism will be able to provide CSS volunteers with detailed reports on current trends in antisemitism and extremism.

Meanwhile, the ADL will benefit from CSS’s work on the ground to better track anti-Semitic incidents and hate crimes; its staff will also have opportunities to take security training from CSS experts. “The recent rise in antisemitic incidents and reported hate crimes bears out the need for partnering in a way that seeks to tangibly improve the security of American Jewish institutions,” said ADL national director and CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.

Main Photo: Evan Bernstein. Credit: Courtesy.