Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, participates in the House Republicans news conference in the Capitol to discuss defunding the Homeland Security Departments Disinformation Governance Board on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"Antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric is becoming dangerously mainstream. We must act now to expose and combat this vile hatred wherever it is spread," Pfluger said.
The roundtable focused on improving interagency coordination, intelligence sharing, training, and enforcement to better prevent and respond to antisemitic violence, according to a House Homeland Security Committee aide.
In particular, the meeting addressed ways to bolster communication between the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, along with state and local law enforcement, according to Michael Masters, the CEO of the Secure Community Network, a non-profit organization focused on the safety of the Jewish community in North America.
This interagency coordination is absolutely paramount as the Secure Community Network has flagged 500 credible threats to life this year – which all have required immediate law enforcement intervention, according to Masters.
"Bad guys don't respect orders. Bad actors don't respect jurisdictions, and that means that our intelligence can't be siloed," Masters told Fox News Digital on Monday.
SHOOTING AT CAPITAL JEWISH MUSEUM HIGHLIGHTS RISING WAVE OF ANTI-JEWISH HATE CRIMES
A protester holds a Palestinian flag as students rally on Columbia University campus at a protest encampment in support of Palestinians during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in New York City on April 29, 2024. (REUTERS/David Dee Delgado)
Those who participated in the roundtable included representatives from the Secure Community Networks; the Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to stopping the defamation of the Jewish people; the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence & Analysis; and law enforcement officials.
Pfluger, a Republican from Texas, has spearheaded legislation that would bar any visa holders backing Hamas or other designated terror groups from staying in the U.S.
He also led a hearing last month on the rise of antisemitic violence in the U.S., following a May shooting that killed two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington and a terrorist attack in Colorado targeting a grassroots group advocating for the release of Israeli hostages.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is of Indian descent and was born in Uganda. (REUTERS/Bing Guan)
Still, concerns remain over what his potential leadership as mayor could mean for the Jewish community in New York City. Roughly 1.4 million people in the Greater New York Area identified as Jewish in 2023, according to UJA-Federation of New York.
"There's a lot of fear in the Jewish community if this guy becomes mayor," New York City Republican councilwoman Inna Vernikov told Fox News Digital.
"This is a guy who wants to globalize the intifada," Vernikov said. "We've never seen anything close to this in New York City. We have the largest Jewish population in America, and I'll tell you Jews are telling me they're going to run away from New York City, and Jews have contributed a lot to the city and to this country, and the idea that they are now afraid to live here – it's unacceptable and unprecedented really, this has never happened here."
Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mamdanis-rise-vile-hatred-us-jews-focus-critical-closed-door-congressional-huddle