The Jewish Federations of North America this week praised Congress and President Biden for passing and signing into law the National Security Supplemental Bill that helps protect our allies abroad and citizens of the United States during a time of heightened extremism and hatred.
 

These bills include priorities for which Federations have been advocating for many months.
 

“After months of debate, we are proud and grateful that a bipartisan majority of the House and Senate came together to stand with America’s allies and aid in the fight against Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel and Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine,” said Julie Platt, Chair of the board of the Jewish Federations of North America.  

 
The bills included a $26.4 billion package offering critical support to help Israel defend itself against , Hamas terrorists, Hezbollah rockets, and Iran itself just last weekend. The bill includes $4 billion in funding for essential military systems like the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow-3. The package also included a bill providing support to Ukraine in its fight against Vladimir Putin's Russia.

 
Crucially, the bill also includes $400 million in emergency funding to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), a life-saving program that will continue helping houses of worship protect themselves during this period of heightened extremism, hatred, and violence. Andy Hochberg, the Chair of the Jewish Federations’ of North America’s Domestric Policy and Government Affairs Committee, commended this “critical step protect our people here at home who deserve to be safe in their Jewish communities.”

Jewish Federations also applauded Congress for passing the “TikTok” bill, which requires its owners, China-based ByteDance, to divest the company within one year. 

“TikTok has helped fuel a horrific spike in antisemitism that our communities are feeling every day, and it’s time to take action” Jewish Federations of North America President and CEO Eric Fingerhut said. “Congress showed the strong, bipartisan support for ensuring that TikTok cannot continue to push hateful messages into our communities.”

Research has shown that those who use TikTok for over 30 minutes a day are 17 percent more likely to hold antisemitic or anti-Israel views, compared to 6 percent on Instagram and 2 percent on X/Twitter. In just one year, antisemitic comments on TikTok rose 912%.