Herut to introduce resolution at next Zionist congress promoting self-defense, security training in Diaspora

World Herut wants a security program designed around an existing Israeli emissary model that has been proven effective.

By David Isaac, World Israel News 

The World Herut Movement intends to propose a resolution at the next World Zionist Congress (WZC) for the self-defense of Diaspora institutions in the West, the organization said in a statement on Monday.

“In the aftermath of attacks and attempted terrorist attacks on synagogues and Jewish targets in New York, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Poway, Halle, Germany, and in many other communities, it is time for the WZO [World Zionist Organization] to create new programs to directly help Jews worldwide to protect their communities,” Herut said.

The resolution calls for the allocation of funds, resources and programming for the “recruitment, training and deployment of security advisers” to assist local synagogues, Jewish schools, and community centers to understand their security needs and prevent violent attacks.

“The resolution is a direct expansion/continuation of our proactive approach,” Executive Director of World Herut Karma Feinstein-Cohen told World Israel News.

“We believe in teaching skills that will help Jews protect themselves – a basic part of being a proud Jew. Sending out Israeli experts to train in the field in the Diaspora would ensure that many more establishments would have actual answers and skills to protect themselves,” she said.

Herut sees Israeli security experts working on the proven Israeli emissary model, in which Israelis (known in Hebrew as shalichim) come to work for six months to two years within a Diaspora community. The World Zionist Organization runs the emissary program.

Herut recently made news when it introduced a ‘Synagogue Security Tool Kit’ in the wake of the Monsey attack, when a man burst into a rabbi’s home in the upstate New York town and seriously injured five Jews with a machete.

“Herut Zionist slate #10 has chosen a proactive approach to the recent rise in anti-Semitism. Instead of the traditional approach claiming to ‘combat anti-Semitism’ by sitting people in conference rooms to kvetch, Herut created a security tool-kit giving practical, hands-on advice for Jewish establishments and synagogues,” Feinstein-Cohen said.

“Antisemitism cannot be combated. It always has been and always will be. We can react to it differently,” she said.

Herut describes itself “as an international movement for Zionist pride and education and is dedicated to the ideals of pre-World War Two Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky.”

The 38th World Zionist Congress will take place in Jerusalem in October 2020.