What to do about increasingly violent attacks on synagogues

As anti-Jewish and anti-Israel attacks skyrocket in the United States, their targets are increasingly synagogues. It should come as no surprise that nearly all high-profile attacks on shuls reported by mainstream media since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, were orchestrated by so-called “Free Palestine” mobs.

Such attacks, often disruptive and violent—and sometimes even deadly—dispel any excuse that protesters “do not hate Jews,” but only want to “free Palestine.” Let’s be clear: They have nothing to do with forming a state in “Palestine.” Never do the attackers demand measures toward forming a Palestinian state, such as creating government institutions free of corruption or a self-sufficient economy. In fact, most of the slogans associated with synagogue attackers call for the death of Jews and the elimination of Israel.

Synagogue attacks have nothing to do with free speech. Indeed, murdering worshippers at a religious institution doesn’t constitute an expression of First Amendment rights, nor do assaults on Jews, blocking access to a place of worship and building vandalism.

Rather, the “pro-Palestinian” groups leading these attacks have everything to do with threatening Jews and eliminating the Jewish state. At a highly publicized attack last month on a synagogue in New York City, for example, a protest leader chanted, “We need to make them scared,” revealing the true intention of these synagogue attacks—to make Jews cower.

So far, responses by synagogue and Jewish community leadership, as well as civil authorities, have been disorganized and ineffective. Often, for example, law enforcement reacts haphazardly to synagogue attacks. And then some politicians advocate for measures, such as “buffer zones,” which will only regulate the problem rather than resolve it.

Clearly, for the sake of public safety and civil order, American Jews, as well as legislators and civil authorities, must fight back against such personal attacks on Jews and on their houses of worship. The solutions must be forceful and determined; they must deter such attacks.

Attacks on synagogues are skyrocketing. According to a 2024-25 survey by the Anti-Defamation League, incidents of attacks on synagogues spiked to twice the five-year, pre-2023 average. Nearly all high-profile attacks post-Oct. 7 were orchestrated by anti-Israel groups, such as the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and American Muslims for Palestine. And they were accompanied by such chants as “Death to Israel” and “We don’t want no Zionists here.”

Synagogue attackers have no interest in building a Palestinian state. No wonder none of the chants heard at synagogue attacks call for actions toward building a Palestinian state. Instead, the attackers chant “Zionist pigs,” “Globalize the intifada,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” None of this has anything to do with building a Palestinian state, and everything to do with destroying Israel and intimidating Jews.

Attacks on synagogues are not free speech. Indeed, murdering Jewish worshippers in cold blood is not an exercise of First Amendment rights. But that’s what Robert Bowers did on Oct. 27, 2018, at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, where he slaughtered 11 Jewish worshippers while at Shabbat morning services. Assaults have occurred at several synagogues, including one in New Jersey, where protesters attacked two Jewish worshippers, one of whom they hit in the head with a flashlight and required hospitalization.

Synagogue attackers want to destroy Israel and intimidate Jews. Not surprisingly, many synagogue attacks are perpetrated during events related to Israel. In fact, five attacks took place at synagogues holding Israeli real estate events.

One attack in Los Angeles on Dec. 3 occurred at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, in which a “public-safety symposium” was taking place. This event was co-hosted by the consul general of Israel, the local Jewish community, and a Korean American community group. It was aimed at increasing security and community safety. Some anti-Israel agitators managed to get inside the synagogue, damage property and shout slogans like “baby killers,” “Zionist pigs” and “Occupation no more.”

In another instance, at the Park East Synagogue in New York City on Nov. 19, anti-Israel activists targeted an event being held by Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization that helps Jews immigrate to Israel. Some 200 protesters, many masked, gathered outside the synagogue, chanting slogans like “Globalize the Intifada” and “Take another settler out.” One of the protest leaders told the crowd that “it is our duty to make them think twice before holding these events.”

Responses to synagogue attacks are inconsistent and often lackluster. Local police reaction to attacks is habitually muted nationwide. After the Park East attack, for example, the New York City Police Department commissioner admitted that police should have done a better job of keeping anti-Israel protesters away, by keeping the front entrance clear and ensuring “people could easily enter and leave shul.”

Authorities at all levels of government need to crack down on those who use violence and other force to prevent people from exercising their rights to freedom of worship, speech and assembly.

This means, for example, enhanced, aggressive prosecution for hate crimes, and mandatory arrests for vandalism, threats or obstruction. Notably, no arrests have been made in connection with several attacks on synagogues in the past two years. In the period from October 2023 to December 2025, only five individuals across documented incidents faced arrest for attacks on synagogues. There have been no convictions.

Strong, resolute action is required to prevent attacks on synagogues, so American Jews are not intimidated by thugs seeking to destroy them and their state.

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