DETROIT (WXYZ) — Michigan lawmakers and officials gathered Monday to address a rise in antisemitism following last week's attack at Temple Israel, where a vehicle rammed into the synagogue.
Watch Demetrios Sanders' video report:
State Representative Noah Arbit, who has personal ties to the congregation, said the incident struck close to home.
"I went to Hebrew school at Temple Israel, I was bar mitzvah'd at Temple Israel," Arbit said.
Arbit, who represents Michigan's 20th District, said concerns about antisemitism in the Jewish community predated the attack.
"American Jews have been told to not believe our eyes or our ears as individuals and movements hostile to our very existence have grown in stature, support, and power," Arbit said.
Arbit was among Jewish lawmakers and officials who joined Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Monday to discuss combatting hate crimes and domestic terrorism. Oakland County Treasurer Robert Wittenberg also spoke at the conference.
"This is intolerable and people need to stand up and say enough is enough," Wittenberg said.
Nessel advocated for the passage of Senate Bill 502, which would specify that a person who threatens to commit an act of terrorism and communicates the threat with reckless disregard it would be viewed as threatening violence would be guilty of a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
"These laws quite simply are murder prevention," Nessel said.
State Representative Samantha Steckloff, who is also a member of Temple Israel, praised the synagogue's security team following the attack. Steckloff, who represents Michigan's 19th District, said she will push for additional funding for safety measures at Jewish facilities.
"We've seen how those dollars worked, we've seen how the training working. So we want to make sure every congregation in the state, make sure every school, Jewish schools and community centers have those same dollars," Steckloff said.
State Senator Jeremy Moss, who represents Michigan's 7th District, said legislation alone will not be enough to address antisemitism and called on individuals to speak out in their own communities.
"We have to tamper it down in our own circles. If you hear something that sounds like an antisemitic conspiracy theory in your group chats, you have to be fearless to say I'm not comfortable with the direction of this conversation," Moss said.
————————————————————
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
