Rabbis and other Jewish leaders in Miami Beach today rejected the offer of the Jewish War Veterans to maintain a 24-hour guard around synagogues in order to prevent further acts of terrorism.
About 50 Jewish veterans were deputized yesterday by the local police authorities, at their own request, and set up an around-the-clock guard at the West Miami synagogue. They declared their readiness to patrol all houses of worship, not only Jewish. They were given the power to make arrests, but had no permission to carry weapons.
Today, the rabbis of Miami Beach said that they do not want the Jewish veterans to patrol synagogues. “We affirm our complete faith in the determination and willingness of properly constituted authorities, augumented by the F. B. I., to protect synagogues and all houses of worship from dynamiting, ” the rabbis said in a statement. A similar stand was taken also by the local office of the Anti-Defamation League of the B’nai B’rith.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
