Jewish communities in the United States spent over a billion dollars on security measures in 2025, according to a study published by the umbrella organization Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). The figure represents a one-third increase compared to the previous record year in 2024, driven by the escalating costs of protecting community centers, synagogues, schools, summer camps, and nonprofit organizations.
Record Security Spending Across American Jewish Institutions
The study, released on a Thursday by the JFNA, documents average security expenditures of 225,000 dollars per facility. According to JFNA President and CEO Eric Fingerhut, communities face an impossible situation where massive financial sums must be allocated toward security just to maintain a normal, public Jewish life in a free country. Fingerhut noted that no other religious community in the United States is forced to make comparable financial outlays to protect houses of worship and community gathering spaces.
The vast majority of these security funds go toward hiring personnel. Communities also spend heavily on physical fortifications, including reinforced windows and doors, upgraded video surveillance networks, and the installation of protective vehicle barriers and bollards outside buildings.
Despite the financial strain, Fingerhut emphasized the resilience of the community, stating that Jewish life will not be curtailed by the rising price of protection. The JFNA study notably excludes commercial enterprises from its calculations, leaving out expenses borne by more than 1,600 kosher restaurants and 500 retail stores, including grocery shops, Judaica stores, and bookstores.
According to Fingerhut, if communities were not forced to divert resources into physical security, the saved funds could fully cover the costs for 44,000 children at Jewish day schools and subsidize tuition for every participant attending Jewish summer camps.
FBI Hate Crime Data and Legislative Response
The surge in spending coincides with persistent threats documented by federal law enforcement. According to the latest FBI data cited by the JFNA, Jewish communities remain the most frequently targeted religious group for hate crimes in the United States, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all religiously motivated offenses, even as the raw number of incidents declined slightly in 2024 from 1,938 to 1,528.
The proposed legislation would establish a $1 billion grant program aimed at bolstering security infrastructure for nonprofit institutions and stepping up efforts to combat antisemitism online, on college campuses, and nationwide.
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