Senate Aging Committee hears witnesses on rising antisemitism and threats to older Jewish Americans

The United States Senate Special Committee on Aging convened a hearing on antisemitism and its effects on older Jewish Americans, where witnesses, including a Holocaust survivor and security experts, urged Congress to expand funding, education and enforcement to protect seniors and campus communities.

Committee Chairman Rick Scott opened the session by saying the hearing would address “an issue that has been weighing heavily on the hearts and minds of many,” and called attention to a recent surge in harassment, violence and vandalism targeting Jewish Americans, including elderly Holocaust survivors.

The hearing’s nut graf: witnesses described a pattern of threats, assaults and campus harassment that they said retraumatizes older survivors and undermines the ability of Jewish seniors to live safely and openly. They urged Congress to increase funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, adopt clearer federal guidance on antisemitism in education and improve enforcement of civil-rights protections on campuses.

Holocaust survivor David Schachter, identified in committee materials as president of the Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA and founder of the Holocaust Memorial on Miami Beach, recounted his experiences in Nazi camps and described how current…