Photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP / Getty Images
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is stepping up patrols at area synagogues and other institutions in the wake of the murders of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, D.C. this week.
Igor Alterman, President & CEO of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, tells CBS 12 News that people are angry and scared.
"People feel that after years and years of spiking antisemitism in our country, we now see what those antisemitic, anti-Israel slogans lead to. They lead to violence."
Rabbi Greg Weisman at Temple Beth El in Boca Raton expresses similar emotions as Alterman, and says he's not surprised about what happened in the nation's capital.
"We are feeling angered. We are outraged. We are sickened. But this is also a day that many of us have feared was going to happen."
The temple started tightening security as antisemitic incidents ramped up over the past few years and things like fences and metal detectors went up after the October 7th, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel.