Watch: Elected Leaders Urge Jewish Community To Remain Vigilant In The Face Of Hatred

BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. — Federal and state elected leaders urged members of the Jewish community to remain vigilant in the face of ongoing threats brought against them at a rally at the JCC on the Palisades Friday.

A bomb threat was called in to the center Monday, the third one since January and one of several to occur across the nation recently.

Governor Chris Christie, Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. Bill Pascrell and others spoke at the rally.

"We will not tolerate anti-semitism here in Bergen County," said Menendez.

More than a dozen Jewish Community Centers and several Jewish schools across the country were targeted by threats on Monday. It is the fifth time this year a series of such threats have been reported at Jewish institutions.

The threats were reported to 13 JCCs and eight Jewish schools in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia, the JCC of Northern America said.

"Anyone who commits this type of crime will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Christie said. "We will arrest those who need to be arrested. We will stand up as leaders and protect those who need protection against those who commit these acts."

Christie stressed the need for others to immediately speak out against acts of violence and bigotry when committed against others in their communities.

"When we’re standing on the soccer field and we see someone commit an act of violence against children who are different on the field, we need to do something about it, rather than wait for someone in authority to do something about it," Christie said. "It's not good enough to stand by and wait for someone else to do something."

The JCC Association of North America issued the following statement in response to the threats:

“Anti-Semitism of this nature should not and must not be allowed to endure in our communities. The Justice Department, Homeland Security, the FBI, and the White House, alongside Congress and local officials, must speak out – and speak out forcefully – against this scourge of anti-Semitism impacting communities across the country."

Booker said the person responsible for the threats who are responsible for the threats is a "coward."

"I will not give in to despair. Hope is something that doesn't exist in the abstract. Hope is a choice," Booker said. "It is saying that violence will never have the last word. We have to be agents of hope."

Booker, New Jersey's junior senator, also spoke about the need for people to be unified in their efforts to help others who experience bigotry, just as his family did when he was younger.

Gottheimer, who is Jewish, agreed. He referenced Esther in the Bible, a heroin and Jewish queen who went to Persian king Ahasuerus in an attempt to save her people.

"We cannot let partisanship get in the way of protecting our families," Gottheimer said. "Our message must be clear: Terrorism, there is no place for it."

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