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 events have renewed fear among survivors. “I’m 95 years old, and a proud and a proud American and a proud Jew and a survivor of 2 Nazi concentration camps,” Schachter said, listing loss of family members and long-term trauma.

Rabbi Mark Rosenberg, senior chief chaplain of the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office and a witness who works with older adults in crisis, said the elderly “know how this starts” and warned that without consequences for intimidation and violence “never again is now.”

Ted Deutsch, chief executive officer of the American Jewish Committee, cited AJC findings that large shares of Jewish Americans feel less secure and urged several legislative and funding steps. Deutsch recommended passage of the Antisemitism Awareness Act, the Protecting Students on Campus Act and the HEAL Act, more funding for the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and consideration of targeted reforms to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to address online threats that lead to real-world violence.

Rebecca Fetterman, senior director of intelligence for the Community Security Initiative in New York, described CSI’s threat-monitoring work and said the group elevated 221 life‑threatening instances to law enforcement in 2024. Fetterman told the committee CSI’s analysis identifies three acute threat sources: individuals radicalized by the Israel–Hamas war, ISIS‑inspired actors and white‑supremacist/neo‑Nazi actors. She cited recent campus and local attacks and said CSI is working with Hillels, Chabad houses and campus security at 25 universities to provide event security and intelligence reporting.

Witnesses and several senators made a sustained funding argument for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP). Committee members noted that Congress increased NSGP funding to $305 million in the FY25 Senate appropriations bill and provided $400 million through the FY24 national security supplemental, but witnesses and members said demand exceeds grant availability. Fetterman and others recommended appropriating at least $500 million to meet ongoing needs for security personnel, barriers and training.

The committee also discussed supports for aging Holocaust survivors. Members raised the Administration for Community Living’s Holocaust Survivor Assistance Program, which representatives said has supported thousands of survivors through trauma‑informed services. Senators expressed concern about agency reorganizations that could disrupt those services and urged continued funding and oversight.

Members questioned whether universities are applying codes of conduct and Title VI enforcement consistently. Fetterman said some campuses have revised conduct codes to treat coded language aimed at Zionists as antisemitic in practice. Deutsch urged a “whole of government” approach and recommended increased Office for Civil Rights funding to investigate Title VI complaints, including a specific FY26 request cited in testimony.

Committee members also pressed social media companies and law enforcement to act on violent threats. Witnesses said the volume of online threats is high, that platforms were not uniformly cooperative for CSI’s purposes, and that cooperation between CSI, local police and the FBI helped intercept at least one targeted threat to a Manhattan synagogue.

The hearing closed with repeated bipartisan calls for education — including enforcement of Holocaust education and programs such as the Never Again Education Act and HEAL Act proposals — and a reminder that the committee will keep the record open for additional questions and statements until next Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Ending: No formal votes or committee actions were taken during the hearing; senators and witnesses urged legislative and funding options to be pursued in subsequent congressional work.