TRENTON – Senator James Beach issued the following statement after the Senate voted to approve New Jersey’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget (S-2025), which included $1.5 million in dedicated funding to support the security needs of the nine Jewish Federations of New Jersey:

“Over the past year, there has been a significant uptick in antisemitic incidents in New Jersey. In 2023, reports of harassment, vandalism, and assault rose by 103% from the previous year,” said Senator Beach (D-Camden/Burlington). “It is imperative that the State does everything in its power to prevent further attacks on the Jewish community by investing in new safety measures. The $1.5 million appropriated to JFed Security in this year’s budget does just that.”

JFed Security, an agency of the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey, partnered with the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest New Jersey to establish an intelligence center for the Jewish community. Currently, the center employs two open-source intelligence analysts, and will use the new funding to expand, with hopes of including all nine Jewish Federations in the State.

All Jewish Federation security programs coordinate with local, county, State, and federal law enforcement and share information across all platforms.