Twin Cities Jewish community on heightened alert amid Middle East war

MINNEAPOLIS — There is extra security at Twin Cities synagogues ahead of Yom Kippur.

There has been an increase in threats and a man who was suspected of having a gun was arrested Friday outside Temple Israel.

The escalation of the conflict in the Middle East began a year ago on Oct. 7 , when Hamas militants made a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1,200 Israelis. Another 251 people, including some Americans and other foreign nationals, were taken hostage.

Since then, the conflict has escalated. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza. At least 100 hostages have been killed or died in captivity. As the U.S. has stood by Israel, there have been massive protests across the U.S. and in Israel demanding a cease fire.

There has also been a rise in reports of antisemitic incidents in the Twin Cities and across the country. Ethan Roberts, deputy executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council for Minnesota and the Dakotas, was a guest on WCCO Sunday Morning.

"There is an inordinate amount of resources that goes into securing our community," Roberts said. "What choice do we have? We want to make sure that when people go to synagogue for our high holidays as I did this morning to drop my daughter off, that it's safe and our community is safe "

All this comes as the war in the Middle East is escalating. Israel is now fighting on multiple fronts including against Hamas in Gaza, against Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and now against Iran itself, which last week bombed Tel Aviv .

This all comes in the middle of the Jewish High Holy Days, with Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year on the Jewish calendar, this Friday. The anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack will be commemorated with a service at a Minnetonka synagogue.

You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Adam Del Rosso every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.