BUFFALO, N.Y. — Jewish communities from around the United State will be making their way to Washington D.C. to participate in a 'March for Israel.'
That includes at least two buses with about 100 Western New Yorkers.
'I've been a Jewish professional for almost 25 years, this is the first time in my career and in my lifetime that I am going to be at such a large gathering of Jewish people who are coming together to advocate for one singular cause," said Miriam Abramovich, COO of the Buffalo Jewish Federation.
Abramovich says the cause is deeply personal for so many Jews making the trip.
"We want to continue to raise awareness about the 240 hostages who are still being held by Hamas," Abramovich said. "We want to continue to advocate for increased funding and support to address and combat anti-Semitism, which is just surging all over North America all over Europe.
Governor Hochul on Monday she was deploying additional staff to the FBI joint terrorism task force. Additionally, the governor announced $2.5M in funding for the NYS Police to deploy ten additional investigators throughout the state, including Buffalo.
The governor doubled down on the state investivating hate speech across the state, including hateful messages directed at Jews and Muslims.
"I want to make sure that every single complaint is rundown and investigated," Hochul said. 'If they've crossed the line from hate speech into a hate crime, there will be prosecutions."
The busses left Getzville in the early hours of Tuesday morning and the members from the Buffalo Jewish Federation are expected to participate in the official march at 1 P.M.