FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the House Approbations Subcommittee on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, April 11, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Michael A. McCoy

The threat posed by foreign terrorists to the US and its allies has skyrocketed since the Palestinian terror group Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned on Tuesday.

Wray made the comments to the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies while requesting additional funding for his agency.

“We’ve seen the threat from foreign terrorists rise to a whole ‘nother level after Oct. 7,” Wray said. “Just in the time that I’ve been FBI director, we’ve disrupted multiple terrorist attacks in cities and communities around the country. We need funding to continue protecting America from terrorism.”

The FBI chief argued that the security situation in the US has become significantly more precarious over the last several months, asserting that America is vulnerable to a major terrorist incident reminiscent of the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) carrying machine guns into a Moscow concert hall and slaughtering 145 people in March.

“There was already a heightened risk of violence in the United States before Oct. 7,” Wray testified to US lawmakers, adding that terrorists may be inspired by Hamas to launch attacks themselves.

“Since then [Oct. 7], we’ve seen a rogue’s gallery of foreign terrorist organizations call for attacks against Americans and our allies. Given those calls for action, our most immediate concern has been that individuals or small groups will draw twisted inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks here at home,” Wray said. “But now, on top of that, increasingly concerning is the potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, not unlike the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russian concert hall back in March.”

Wray added that Jewish Americans have endured record levels of antisemitic hate crimes since Oct. 7. He told the subcommittee that such incidents have surged by 60 percent since the Hamas atrocities, arguing that underlined the need for more FBI funding. 

“Our top concern stems from lone offenders inspired by — or reacting to — the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, as they pose the most likely threat to Americans, especially Jewish, Muslim, and Arab-American communities in the United States,” Wray testified.

According to Wray, Jewish “individuals, houses of worship, and institutions” have been increasingly targeted and threatened.

“They are targeted by foreign jihadist inspired terrorists, whether it’s ISIS, al Qaeda, or others,” Wray said. “They’re targeted by Shia terrorists, Iran, and its proxies. They’re targeted by domestic violent extremists, you know, white supremacists and others, as well as anarchists and some of the folks who are, you know, pro-Palestinian and so forth.”

The FBI director warned that without additional funding, the department would not be able to fulfill its staffing needs and thwart burgeoning terror threats, a choice that could have devastating ramifications for the safety of American Jews. 

“That’s fewer tips and leads followed; fewer terrorist attacks detected. That’s a significant concern in a heightened terrorist threat environment,” Wray said.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitism in the US surged to catastrophic and unprecedented levels in 2023, rising a harrowing 140 percent. Most of the antisemitic outrages occurred after Oct. 7.