FBI monitors threats to American Jews during Passover

The agency is monitoring potential threats against the weeklong celebrations that begin at sundown Monday, Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday told the Jewish group Secure Communities Network. Since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, the FBI has opened three times as many investigations into threats against Jewish targets as it did in the four months before the attack, Wray said. But even before October, the FBI saw a rise in threats against Jewish targets, he said. Threats against Muslims have also increased in the wake of Oct. 7, Wray told Congress in December.

What kinds of threats is the FBI monitoring? Both homegrown and international groups are of concern, Wray said. He noted that foreign terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda, the Islamic State group, and Hezbollah have threatened violent attacks against the United States. He said tensions had only escalated since Iran’s recent attacks on Israel. Attacks by lone-wolf actors are also a top risk, Police Chief Michael Bentolila told Secure Communities.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Reichard’s discussion with William Inboden on The World and Everything in It podcast about how Iran miscalculated when it attacked Israel.