Sep 05, 2026

Jewish News Today: Jewish Institutions Spend Record $1 Billion on Security as Antisemitism Climbs Across Two Continents

The Big Picture

Jewish communities in the diaspora are spending more than ever to protect themselves, with security costs for Jewish institutions reaching a record-high $1 billion, according to JTA. The figure arrives against a backdrop of rising antisemitic incidents in Spain, renewed controversy over antisemitic rhetoric in American public life, and campus battles over how universities should handle Jew-hatred — underscoring the breadth of pressure bearing down on Jewish communities outside Israel.

Security Spending Hits Unprecedented Level

Jewish institutions have now spent a record $1 billion on security, JTA reported this week. The milestone reflects how profoundly the threat environment facing diaspora communities has shifted in the years since October 7, 2023. While JTA did not specify a single time period for the figure, the report signals that communal self-protection has become one of the largest line items in organised Jewish life.

The cost of defending synagogues, schools, community centres and cultural organisations has long been a burden borne disproportionately by Jewish communities. Reaching the billion-dollar threshold makes that burden concrete in a way few statistics have before.

Antisemitism Rising in Spain — and Being "Normalised"

Across the Atlantic, Spain's Jewish umbrella organisation and a watchdog group reported that antisemitic incidents rose 14.5% in 2025, with more than 200 incidents recorded, according to the Forward. The Federation of Jewish communities in Spain warned that hatred was being "normalised" — a term that will resonate with communal leaders across Europe who have tracked a similar pattern in their own countries.

The Spanish figures add to a broader picture of rising hostility in European diaspora communities. For Jews in the UK and Germany — where MoT's readership is concentrated — the Spanish data serves as a regional indicator, not an isolated outlier.

The Ruffalo Row: Antisemitism Debate Reaches Hollywood

In the United States, a public dispute over antisemitism has broken out in Hollywood after actor Mark Ruffalo used language linking a media merger to Israel's actions in Gaza, JTA reported. Jewish figures in the entertainment industry have taken sides, with some characterising Ruffalo's language as antisemitic and others defending him. JTA described the row as dividing "Hollywood's Jews."

Separately, Vice President JD Vance declined to disavow Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News personality who has spread antisemitic conspiracy theories, according to the Forward citing JTA. Vance acknowledged having "political disagreements" with Carlson but stopped short of a direct condemnation. The refusal has prompted concern among Jewish organisations who have documented Carlson's record on antisemitic content.

Together, the two stories illustrate a recurring challenge for American Jewish communities: antisemitism does not arrive from a single political direction, and alliances once considered reliable are increasingly complicated.

Campus Battles: University of Washington Delays Conduct Vote

The University of Washington has delayed a vote on proposed changes to its student conduct code, JNS reported. The university said it was seeking more feedback following criticism of its handling of antisemitism and destructive anti-Israel protests on campus. The delay keeps unresolved a question that Jewish students at campuses across North America have pressed for years: whether university disciplinary frameworks adequately address conduct targeting Jewish students.

Communities Fight Back: Training and Grassroots Organising

Amid the difficult headlines, several stories this week pointed to diaspora communities and their allies taking active steps to push back against Jew-hatred.

A nonprofit called IMPACT is training senior citizens in Queens, New York, to combat antisemitism on social media, JNS reported. "Not everyone can go to a rally," Aaron Herman, who leads the organisation, told JNS. "Not everyone can go out in the streets, but they can go from their couch." The initiative represents an effort to broaden who participates in communal defence beyond those who can attend physical demonstrations.
In Austin, Texas, the ADL's local chapter hosted a public training session on recognising and combating Jew-hatred. Jackie Nirenberg, ADL Austin's regional director, told JNS that many participants "were genuinely surprised by what they learned about the Jewish community" — suggesting that non-Jewish allies, when engaged, can be meaningfully moved by education.

Context: Why This Moment Feels Different

The record security spend and the Spanish antisemitism figures both follow a sustained period of elevated hostility that began with the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza. That conflict has provided a pretext — and, community leaders argue, often a cover — for antisemitic harassment and violence against Jews who have no connection to Israeli government policy.

What is notable in this week's reporting is the breadth of the challenge: it spans elite universities, Hollywood, national politics, and street-level harassment in southern Europe. No single intervention addresses all of it, which is why the range of responses — billion-dollar institutional security, seniors on social media, public education workshops, and university policy battles — exists simultaneously.

What This Means for Diaspora Jews

For Jewish communities in the UK, Germany, and the United States, this week's news carries a consistent message: the costs of being visibly Jewish — financially, socially, and psychologically — continue to rise. The record security figure is not abstract; it represents money that Jewish schools, synagogues, and community centres must raise and spend on guards and barriers rather than education and programming.

At the same time, the grassroots stories from Queens and Austin are a reminder that the response to antisemitism is not solely institutional. Individual community members — including those who cannot march or attend rallies — have a role to play. That message, coming from within the community, may be one of the more practically useful things diaspora Jews can take from this week's news.