A Jewish paramilitary group with Brooklyn roots is giving its members weapons training with the goal of keeping New York and America safe from terrorists. About 15 members of Kitat Konenut New York attended an "Israeli Military Training Camp" in the Catskills earlier this month.
The men got instruction in close-quarter combat, handling rifles and pistols, identifying suspicious objects and confronting terrorists, co-founder Scott Brown told the Daily News. The group's Facebook page has a photo of young men wielding rifles in front of an Israeli flag, while its MySpace page blared: "Keeping Jews safe, when no one else will!"
Brown said the organization - whose name means "preparedness team" in Hebrew - wants to work as an adjunct to Homeland Security and the NYPD.
"Homeland Security has admitted they don't have enough resources to be out there on the streets all the time," said Brown, who lives in Borough Park.
"My goal is for hopefully one person on every block to be trained to watch his own house and family, his own block."
But Jewish leaders and police didn't sound too keen on the idea. "I think it's unnecessary," said Marc Stern, general counsel of the American Jewish Congress. "Most of us are happy to call police....It's little boys who have never grown up."
Joel Levy, the New York regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said Kitat Konenut's agenda is best left to the police. "That's where I think these kinds of security issues should be addressed," he said.
The Police Department was equally dismissive.
"The NYPD does not encourage or cooperate with paramilitary groups," NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. "Certainly not ones who arm or intend to arm its members."
Browne, 44, said members are from as far away as Los Angeles. They received training from three Israeli military vets at the training camp from July 27 to Aug. 5.
He rejected comparisons to the Jewish Defense League, the militant organization founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane. "As soon as you mention the word Jew and gun in the same sentence everyone thinks JDL," Brown said. "It's not that at all. We're trying to aid Homeland Security."