EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — As the Israel-Hamas war rages on the former leader of Hamas took to social media calling on people to treat Friday, October 13 as a Day of Rage inciting fear worldwide.
Since then police departments and Jewish communities have been on high alert.
It’s an unsettling and uncertain time even here at home. With the support of local law enforcement Jewish communities are remaining vigilant and leaning on each other now more than ever.
“Continue to work as a community, help each other, provide support for each other,” said Daniel Chejfec the executive director of the Jewish Federation of NEPA.
On Friday, October 13 former Hamas leader Khaled Mashal called for a Day of Rage worldwide.
Encouraging demonstrations to show support for Palestine. Local Jewish organizations say they’re remaining alert while continuing to provide support for their community.
“We are doing what we need to do which is come together and continue practicing our Jewish life,” added Chejfec.
The Jewish Federation of NEPA says they’re grateful to have the support of local law enforcement during these trying times.
“They have helped us understand the different ways in which we can improve our security. they have made it very clear that always they are for us,” continued Chejfec.
In Luzerne County, many police departments say they’ve been taking the necessary precautions to keep their communities safe
“We basically increased the officers that are on duty, put extra patrols out, throughout the neighborhoods, and specific locations. We were assisted by the state police who were in and out of town all day which was a great help. and we also had the assistance of the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office,” explained Chief Richard Kotchik from Kingston Municipal Police Department
In addition to the Day of Rage threats, there were also multiple threats made to schools. While it’s unknown if the two are related Chief Kotchik says this has put an increased amount of pressure on local police departments.
“We have officers already stationed in schools and we had to increase that also just in case,” said Kotchik.
28/22 News spoke with multiple officials in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties and confirmed that there have been no credible threats made to any Jewish organizations at this time but that they are continuing to remain vigilant.
