By Julia Harte and Steve Gorman
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. law enforcement agencies escalated security measures on Friday to safeguard Jewish and Muslim communities as protests over the conflict between Israel and Hamas unfolded in a number of cities across the United States and around the world.
Police in the two most populous U.S. cities – New York and Los Angeles – said they were stepping up patrols, especially around synagogues and Jewish community centers, though authorities insisted they were unaware of any specific, or credible threats.
The heightened security follows a call by former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal for protests on Friday in support of Palestinians. Israel has been retaliating against a Hamas rampage in southern Israel last weekend that killed at least 1,300. At least 1,800 Palestinians have died in an aerial bombardment of the coastal enclave of Gaza by the Israeli military.
U.S. national security officials met at the White House on Friday morning to discuss preparations to safeguard Jewish and Muslim communities across the country, as well as helping to protect diplomatic facilities in Washington and cities where Israeli consulates are located, including New York and Los Angeles.
“At this time, none of our intelligence agencies have any specific intelligence indicating a threat to the United States stemming from the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel,” said White House spokesman John Kirby. “That said, we continue to remain vigilant to any and all possible threats.”
New York City officials said they were bracing for at least one major demonstration planned for Times Square on Friday.
“Every member of the New York Police Department will be ready and be in uniform tomorrow,” NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell told reporters. “We will not tolerate any hate, any acts of disorder; it will be quelled quickly and we will be ready.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said his office had directed police to “surge additional resources to schools and houses of worship to ensure they are safe and that our city remains a place of peace.”
Extra police patrols were being deployed in Jewish and Muslim communities alike, he said.
Governor Kathy Hochul ordered New York state’s National Guard to patrol vital transportation hubs.
Across the country, the Los Angeles Police Department issued a statement saying its officers would assume a higher profile around Jewish and Muslim communities.
PRO-ISRAELI RALLY
In Washington, a rally supporting Israel and the American Jewish community drew about 200 people at the city’s Freedom Plaza, in view of the Capitol complex, where police had erected protective fencing the night before.
Ron Halber, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, blasted calls for a ceasefire and addressed criticism that Israel was using disproportionate force.
Halber said Saturday’s attacks had shown that using “equal force” against an enemy like Hamas was ineffective. “Those used to be the days but don’t expect the Jewish people (to) ever accept that type of situation ever again,” he said.
The Council and another organizer of the event, the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, said they had been in contact with U.S. Park Police, which patrols the plaza, and decided to proceed with the rally after confirming there were no credible threats.
Protests erupted at several U.S. college campuses on Thursday after a national pro-Palestinian group declared a “day of resistance” and called for its 200 college chapters to hold demonstrations. The protests occurred amid reports of assaults against students on both sides, and some chapters canceled them for safety reasons.
FBI REASSURES SOME, ALARMS OTHERS
The FBI said it was aware of the calls for global action that may lead to demonstrations in U.S. communities on Friday and encouraged members of the public to remain vigilant.
At least one Arab-American advocacy group pointed to a more hostile posture taken by federal law enforcement toward Muslim groups than Jews.
The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee said on Thursday that FBI agents had paid visits to a number of mosques in different states and individual U.S. residents with Palestinian roots, calling it a “troubling trend.”
“We have received multiple calls today regarding Palestinian nationals detained by ICE, and/or visited by the FBI,” the organization’s national executive director, Abed Ayoub, said.
Rabbi Yoni Fein, who heads a large Jewish day school in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the Brauser Maimonides Academy, said “higher alerts of operations are definitely in place” in anticipation of global protests on Friday.
He said the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and other federal authorities had held online security sessions with Jewish institutions around the country.
But Fein said the school was seeking to reassure students they are safe and to go about their lives.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles. Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh, Patricia Zengerle and Brendan O’Brien; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Jonathan Oatis and Alistair Bell)
