(JTA) — Pro-Israel Christians donated $21,000 toward improving security at two Jewish schools in the Netherlands.
Christians for Israel, a Netherlands-based international organization with hundreds of thousands of followers in over 30 countries, on Tuesday allocated $10,500 each to the Cheider, an Orthodox school near Amsterdam, and the JBO association for special education for Jewish students, according to a statement by the the Dutch Israelite Religious Community, or NIK.
The donation comes at a time of grave concern over security for Jewish institutions in the Netherlands in the wake of the slaying of a Jewish security guard outside Copenhagen’s main synagogue last month, one of a string of similar incidents that left 13 people dead since 2012 in Denmark, France and Belgium.
Christians for Israel’s representatives Dick Schutte and Roger van Oordt gave the money during a visit Tuesday to the headquarters of the NIK umbrella group.
Dutch Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, who is also a member of the Cheider’s board, said at the meeting that the gift will help show pupils that “there are not only enemies outside the school, but also friends like Christian for Israel.”
In January, Jewish schools were temporarily shuttered following Belgian police’s slaying of two suspects in a counterterrorism raid in Verviers, near Belgium’s border with France.
Citing security concerns, NIK asked Dutch authorities to match a decision by Belgian authorities to post troops outside Jewish schools and institutions.
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