American Jewish umbrella groups have vowed not to be intimidated by anonymous threats to kill 1,200 Jewish executives and doctors in the United States.
There is no undue “reason for alarm” at this time, said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American jewish Organizations.
The President’s Conference and its member groups were already on alert after the militant Islamic groups Hamas and Hezbollah issued threats recently to strike at Jewish targets worldwide, Hoenlein said in an interview.
The FBI issued an alert last Friday to Jewish groups after it received an anonymous threat to carry out attacks on Jewish leaders and doctors unless Israel withdraws its military forces from Lebanon and pays $12 billion in compensation by May 5.
The threat was an apparent reference to the Israeli soldiers stationed in the security zone maintained by Israel in southern Lebanon and last month’s 16-day assault against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
“There is no way to know at this time if the threat is real, but the FBI believes that Jewish organizations, synagogues, and individuals should for their own safety be on heightened alert,” the FBI alert reportedly said.
The threat came several days after a letter bomb exploded April 29 at the Jewish National Fund office in Calgary, Canada. No one has claimed responsibility for that attack, which injured one person, and local police are investigating.
Hoenlein said that Jewish groups must repudiate attempts to “hold us hostage,” adding that federal and state officials are efficiently handling the security concerns of Jewish organizations.
“We cannot allow ourselves to be intimidated” by fringe groups, and that to avoid attending public communal events, such as the May 12 Salute to Israel Parade in New York, would be a “victory for deranged people,” he said.
The National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council, while sending an advisory to its member agencies to be on alert, is also not trying “to be alarmist,” according to Jerome Chanes, the council’s co-director for domestic concerns.
While the threat apparently did not mention Israeli targets in the United States, Gideon Mark, consul for communication and public affairs at the Israeli Consulate in New York, said that the American authorities “know how to deal with such threats.”
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