Jewish Americans take self-defense precautions before holidays amid rising antisemitism

Security and nonlethal weapons experts tell Fox News Digital that Jewish Americans are taking self-defense precautions amid a heightened threat environment.

Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on X: @danimwallace. 

In the 11 months since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, combined with rising levels of antisemitism at home, Priem said CSS has seen a "massive increase in demand" for its services, as the organization provides a sense of "empowerment" to Jewish Americans seeking the tools to "take ownership" of their own security. "When we talk about self-defense, you're not looking at it purely from, you know, can I physically defend myself? But it's also about the Jewish community taking some ownership over their own security, not to replace law enforcement, not to replace paid security, but to add an additional layer of community security that we own," Priem told Fox News Digital. "Our mission is to protect Jewish life and the Jewish way of life. On the one hand, we want to increase security around Jewish institutions and events so that we can protect the people inside. But we also want to maintain the Jewish way of life, meaning we want to be able to continue living as Jewish Americans who participate in all aspects of American life, but also Jewish life, free from fear." 

Priem said his organization provides "professional level security training" to Jewish community members and every day receives inquiries from "dozens of new volunteers stepping up."