Local authorities monitoring fallout from Iran’s strikes on Israel

FILE – Israeli Iron Dome air defense system launches to intercept missiles fired from Iran, in central Israel, Sunday, April 14, 2024. Iran launched its first direct military attack against Israel on Saturday. Israel says more than 300 drones, cruise and ballistic missiles are launched by Iran, an extraordinary assault that is thwarted almost entirely by Israel’s aerial defense array and a coalition of countries repelling the onslaught. (AP Photo/Tomer Neuberg, File)

LOS ANGELES – Southern California law enforcement agencies are exercising heightened vigilance around sensitive religious institutions Sunday following Iran’s military strikes on Israel.

Authorities assured the public that no immediate threats have been identified in the Los Angeles area but said they were intently monitoring the situation.

“The LAPD is closely monitoring the developments between Iran and Israel,” the Los Angeles Police Department posted Saturday on X. “While there are no credible threats to Los Angeles at this time, we are committed to ensuring safeguards to houses of worship and sensitive areas throughout all communities in Los Angeles.”

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said his department was also “closely monitoring the conflict between Israel and Iran and working with our federal and regional partners to ensure the safety of our communities in L.A.
County.”

Luna said there were currently no specific or credible threats to the county. “As a precaution, we are increasing patrol checks around sensitive and religious sites and engaging with our community leaders to reassure them that the LASD is taking a proactive stance,” he added.

Overnight Saturday, Iran launched a barrage of more than 300 missiles and armed drones toward Israel in what the Middle East nation described as a “deserved response” for Israel’s attack on Iran’s consulate in Syria on April 1.

Israel said the attack was largely thwarted and caused “very little damage.”

Jewish Federation Los Angeles President and CEO Rabbi Noah Farkas described the attack by Iran as “alarming and frightening.”

Farkas issued a statement saying, “The launch of hundreds of drones and missiles further underlines the fact that the people of Israel are under constant threat.” He said the Federation and Los Angeles Jewish community “stand in unequivocal solidarity with our homeland. We are working with our partners on the ground in Israel to ensure the people of Israel have our full support and the necessary resources.

“Our Community Security Initiative is closely monitoring the situation and working with our law enforcement partners to identify and protect our local community from any local threats. So far, no threats have been identified,” Farkas said.

President Joe Biden participated in a call with G7 leaders Sunday to discuss the attack, according to the White House. The G7 leaders later issued a statement to “unequivocally condemn in the strongest terms” the attack.

“ … We will also strengthen our cooperation to end the crisis in Gaza, including by continuing to work towards an immediate and sustainable ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas, and deliver increased humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in need,” the statement added.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties organization, issued its own statement Sunday, placing blame for the crisis on Israel and the Biden administration.

“The Biden administration emboldened the far-right Israeli government to manufacture this crisis by repeatedly giving it carte blanche to violate international law without any accountability — from murdering journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, to expanding illegal settlements, to committing a genocide in Gaza, to bombing an Iranian embassy complex in Syria,” CAIR said.

“Benjamin Netanyahu’s desperate, failing government has obviously been trying to distract from the genocide in Gaza and maintain political power by sparking a full-blown regional war with Iran. The American people do not support the ongoing genocide in Gaza or the Israeli government’s transparent attempt to drag our nation into another doomed and unnecessary Middle East war.

We have seen this story before, and we know how it ends. Benjamin Netanyahu himself lobbied Congress to support the disastrous invasion of Iraq in 2003.

“Enough is enough. The Biden administration must demand that the Israeli government deescalate the ongoing crisis and stop violating international law.” (CNS)