By Judy Maltz

(March 1, 2026 / Haaretz) Jewish communities across North America have been advised to “remain vigilant and maintain heightened security measures,” in wake of the Israeli and American strikes on Iran.

“Tensions involving Iran contribute to an already elevated threat environment driven in part by state-sponsored actors, foreign terrorist organizations, violent extremists and opportunist groups,” said a statement jointly issued by the Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Federations of North America, Secure Community Network and several other organizations tasked with ensuring the safety of the Jewish community.

The statement noted that “Iran has threatened, both directly and through its proxies, to target the Jewish community, Israel and the United States should they be attacked.”

At the same time, the statement concluded that there was “no active credible threat” to the Jewish community at this time.

The strike on Iran has exposed deep divisions among Jewish communal organizations: While mainstream Jewish groups were highly supportive of the joint American-Israeli operation, those on the left – even groups that traditionally define themselves as pro-Israel – were critical.

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, for example, said it stood firmly behind the United States and Israel in their decision to “act decisively against the Iranian regime.”

“We commend President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for their close coordination and clear resolve at this critical moment,” said a statement issued by the umbrella organization. “Their leadership reflects the strength of the U.S.-Israel security partnership and a shared determination to halt a regime that endangers regional and global stability.”

The Conference of Presidents also welcomed news that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, had been killed in an Israeli air strike. “His death closes a chapter defined by sustained hostility and regional destabilization,” its statement said.

J Street, on the other hand, said it was “appalled” by the decision to launch what it described “a war of choice against Iran explicitly seeking regime change.”

“The president is starting this war with no clear plan for achieving his goal; without a comprehensive discussion with the American public about the risks and alternatives; and illegally, without first seeking authorization from Congress or a mandate from the international community,” J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami said in a statement.

The statement acknowledged that Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, its support for proxy groups around the Middle East and its repression of its own people represented a “national security challenge” for the United States and its allies, including Israel.

“However, Iran does not present an imminent threat that requires launching a ‘preventive’ war,” the statement said.

Like the Conference of Presidents, the American Jewish Committee said it supported the United States and Israel “as they undertake targeted military action to stop the Iranian regime’s global terror campaign.”

“Today’s military action follows years of Iranian escalation, deception and refusal to meet its international commitments – including the most recent inconclusive negotiations in Geneva,” the AJC said in a statement. “The responsibility for this crisis lies entirely with Tehran.”

The AJC also welcomed news of the death of top Iranian leaders in the airstrikes. “Ayatollah Khamenei and his top commanders led a regime that brutalized the Iranian people and spread terror, death and destruction throughout the Middle East and across the globe,” the organization said in a post on X. “The world is safer without them.”

The World Jewish Congress similarly praised what it described as the “brave military action” undertaken by the United States and Israel.

“The barrage of Iranian missiles and drones traveling toward Israel is material proof of the existential threat posed by Ayatollah Khamenei’s Islamic Republic to the Jewish state and to what remains of stability in the Middle East,” it said in a statement.

“Since 1979, too many leaders have stood idle while this dictatorship has made a mockery of human rights, exported antisemitic conspiracies and murdered its own people,” the statement added. “And together with its web of proxies, it has made life unsafe for Jews everywhere.”

The World Jewish Congress also said it stood firmly “with those responding against this aggression.”

Both the Conservative and Reform movements – the two largest Jewish denominations in the United States – issued statements expressing solidarity with the people of Israel and civilians in Iran, while praying for the safety and U.S. and Israeli forces participating in the military operation.

“Iranians have endured a repressive dictatorship for nearly half a century and seek a future of greater freedom and dignity. Iran’s regime, including former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has fueled terror in the Middle East and beyond – supporting murderous proxies including Hamas and Hezbollah, advancing hostility toward the United States and global Jewish communities, and repeatedly threatening the State of Israel,” said the statement issued by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

“Our commitment is clear: Israel, like all nations, has the right to live in peace, free from nuclear and terrorist threats, and every effort must be made to protect civilian life, prevent further escalation and uphold the dignity of those yearning for freedom.”

The Reform movement was more circumspect in its statement, seizing the opportunity to question the Trump administration’s handling of the war.

“We had deeply hoped that conflicts between the U.S. and Iran would have been resolved diplomatically,” the heads of the movement said in a statement. “We also have serious concerns about the administration’s lack of full engagement with Congress in launching this war. Across the highest levels of military, diplomatic and defense circles, many are questioning whether we have a clear, thought-out strategy to ensure our military power achieves our intended goals.”

The European Conference of Rabbis noted with irony the parallels with the events celebrated on this week’s holiday of Purim.

“In a moment reminiscent of Purim, a leading antisemite who preached annihilation and exported terror has met the fate he sought for others,” the organization, said in a statement, in a clear reference to Khamenei and Haman – the latter the key villain in the Book of Esther, which is read on this holiday, who sought to annihilate the Jews in ancient Persia.

Like J Street, which describes itself as “pro-Israel and pro-peace,” New Jewish Narrative – a recently formed merger of several liberal Zionist organizations – condemned the strike on Iran.

“This is wrong. It needs to stop,” it said in a statement.

“The people of Iran do not deserve what is happening to them now,” the NJN statement added. “Innocent civilians are being killed. Israelis, Palestinians and Americans stationed across the Middle East are now also in danger from retaliation and further escalation.”

Rather than an “impulsive military escalation,” NJN urged Israel and the United States to pursue a “comprehensive strategy grounded in diplomacy.”

Democratic Majority for Israel, which advocates for Israel within the Democratic Party, said that ending Israel’s nuclear and missile programs, as well as its ability to sponsor terror, would be “a positive development.”

It noted, however, that President Trump has yet to make “an explicit and detailed case to the American people” about what he hopes to achieve in this war.

“If this conflict leads to regime change, there must be a serious plan to ensure stability and avoid unleashing further chaos in the region,” it said.

Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Zionist group in North America, denounced what it described as “the immoral and illegal war on Iran” launched by the United States and Israel.

“The overwhelming majority of Americans do not want genocide and endless war,” it said. “And they know that the Iranian people, the Palestinian people and all people of the region and the world should be in control of their own futures, and not at the whims of U.S. and Israeli warmongering.

On the other side of the spectrum, the far-right Zionist Organization of America called the strike on Iran a “a courageous, long-overdue act of self-defense.”

“Let’s be clear: Even if Israel didn’t exist, the United States would have had to act to defend itself from a regime openly at war with America, responsible for American blood from Beirut to 9/11 and beyond, actively expanding and willing to use its stockpile of ballistic missiles and suicide drones against civilians it designates as enemies and pursuing – and likely willing to use – nuclear weapons against those same targets,” it said in a statement.

“Too many American administrations have appeased and funded these terrorist fanatics while they plotted against U.S. officials and oppressed its own people.”

This article was originally published by Haaretz and can be viewed here.