U.S. Senator Rick Scott met with a group of local Jewish community leaders yesterday at the Etz Chaim Synagogue in Jacksonville, Florida, to address what he described as an alarming surge in antisemitism across the country.
The roundtable discussion focused heavily on ways local and federal authorities can coordinate to improve safety and security measures for Jewish institutions. Before sitting down with the panel, Scott toured the Torah Academy of Jacksonville and spent time speaking directly with the students.
During the meeting, Scott invoked historical American values to contextualize the current crisis, pointing out that the problem requires direct confrontation.
“In 1789, George Washington wrote to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island that ‘America gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance,’” Scott said. “That’s the America we must return to. Over the last decade, antisemitic incidents have increased almost 900%. Congregations have to consider the unthinkable and prepare for the worst. I hate that this is how communities have to live in America, but we have to tackle it with a clear conscience. The only way out is to identify the issues and counter them.”
A large delegation of regional leaders joined the conversation to outline the specific challenges facing Northeast Florida. The attendees included Rabbi Yaakov Fisch and Rabbi Aharon Yosef Green from Etz Chaim Synagogue; Rabbi Joseph Hamaoui of Torah Academy Jacksonville; lay leader Andrew Jaffa; Jennifer Plotkin representing the Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida; Adam Chaskin from the Jewish Community Alliance; Aaron Bernstein, formerly of Jewish Family Services; and Rabbi Yoseph Kahanov alongside Rabbi Velvil Kahanov from Chabad Jacksonville.
The Jacksonville summit is part of a broader series of meetings Scott has held with campus groups, religious organizations, and community figures across Florida since the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel by Iran-backed Hamas. Following those events, Scott traveled to Israel multiple times to meet with government officials and families of victims and hostages.
The meeting also follows recent legislative action in Washington, where the Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution spearheaded by Scott and Senator Jacky Rosen to recognize Jewish American Heritage Month and formally condemn antisemitic acts. Scott has additionally reintroduced the Preventing Antisemitic Harassment on Campus Act, a bill aimed at holding higher education institutions financially accountable if they fail to protect Jewish students from discrimination.
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