Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 37
(JNS) - "When I stood at the Gama junction next to Re'im, the first place whereas Israelis we could see the trucks with the coffins pass, it was very emotional. I understood why they had to come back," Daniel Lifshitz told JNS. The remains of his grandfather Oded Lifshitz were returned to Israel from the Gaza Strip last month as part of a ceasefire agreement with the Hamas terrorist organization. Oded was laid to rest in Kibbutz Nir Oz on Feb. 25. "It would have been like a very strong voice in...
(JNS) - "Looking at their scared frightened faces, begging to come out, wanting to be like their friends who got released, it is very hard to see your son begging for his life, asking to come out," Ilan Dalal, the father of Guy Gilboa-Dalal, told JNS. On Saturday, Hamas published a propaganda video showing Israeli hostages Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David at their friends' release ceremony from captivity in Gaza. Hamas compelled the two to watch the ceremony from inside a vehicle as Israel...
(JNS) - "We didn't know which Ofer we would get back," Eyal Kalderon, the cousin of ex-Hamas hostage Ofer Kalderon, told JNS on Monday. "The Ofer that we know is the happy, playful Ofer who jokes a lot and puts a smile on everyone's face the second he enters a room. We didn't know if we'd get that Ofer back," he said. Yarden Bibas, Kalderon and Keith Siegel were freed on Feb. 1 after 484 days in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip. Bibas and Kalderon were handed over to the Red Cross in Khan...
(JNS) - "We did it," Efrat Machikawa, the niece of redeemed hostage Gadi Mozes, told JNS on Sunday. Mozes, 80, was among the three Israelis and five Thais redeemed from terrorist captivity as part of Hamas's truce with Jerusalem, 482 days after they were abducted during the terror group's Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. Machikawa was reunited with Mozes on Friday. "It's such a relief. It's quite amazing. It feels like my body was all tense, slowly it's allowing itself to calm down. It's a very special f...
(JNS) — Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi ordered the military on Monday to prepare for counter-terror operations in Judea and Samaria amid an uptick in terror following the ceasefire in Gaza. “In addition to the intense defensive preparations in the Gaza Strip, we must be prepared for significant operations in Judea and Samaria in the coming days in order to get ahead of and catch the terrorists before they reach our citizens,” Halevi stated following a situational assessment. Halevi’s remarks came hours after one IDF...
(JNS) — The U.S. has provided Israel with a written guarantee that Jerusalem can resume its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip if negotiations for the second and third phases of the ceasefire agreement fail, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told JNS on Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden have provided Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an official missive confirming that “the State of Israel will be able to return to the war on day 43” if talks fail during the 42-day first phase of the a...
(JNS) — The Israeli Ministry of Tourism will allocate approximately $64 million (230 million NIS) to 55 tourism projects across the country. This will include $6 million in Judea and Samaria, the highest budget for the region in the last five years, and $18 million in Israel’s north. “On assuming my role as Tourism minister, I decided to increase investment in the Judea and Samaria region, the biblical heartland of Israel, with its rich history, stunning landscapes and natural beauty,” Israeli Minister of Tourism Haim Katz told JNS. “Judea...
(JNS) - Dozens of volunteers are heading north, following the implementation of Israel's ceasefire with Iranian proxy Hezbollah that ended 14 months of war, to assist local farmers in their recovery efforts. "We are currently developing a plan with the aim of bringing at least 100,000 volunteers in the coming months to support farmers in the north," said Yoel Zilberman, founder and CEO of the HaShomer HaChadash ("The New Watchman") agricultural volunteer organization, who is leading the effort....
(JNS) — “She’d rather sleep anywhere else than inside a bomb shelter, because that’s where she was kidnapped from. That’s where Hamas burst in and took her and Hila,” Tom Hand, the father of former captive Emily Hand, told JNS on Thursday. On Oct. 7, 2023, Emily Hand was sleeping over at her friend Hila Rotem Shoshani’s house in Kibbutz Be’eri, five miles from the Gaza Strip, when Hamas launched its assault, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 251 hostages including 40 children, among...
(JNS) — Former Hamas captive Erez Kalderon celebrated his bar mitzvah in Kiryat Gat, southeast of Ashkelon, on Thursday, after marking his 12th birthday in the Gaza Strip. Hamas terrorists kidnapped Kalderon, along with his father, Ofer, and 16-year-old sister, Sahar, from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Erez and Sahar were among 105 hostages released last November as part of a weeklong ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Ofer, now 53, remains a captive in Gaza. “It was very dif...
(JNS) - "We are Zionists and pro-Israel. We want to turn the Negev green and this looks like a way to do so," Avi Leitner, the president of the Blue Agave Israel Group, told JNS on Monday. Leitner and his partner Avi Rosenfeld went to Mexico together years ago and discovered the secret behind producing high-end tequila-the blue agave plant. The two visited areas in Mexico where farmers grow agave and identified similarities in weather conditions there and in the Negev Desert. Six years ago,...
(JNS) - Members of the Gvura Forum converged on the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on Monday to protest against a general strike called by the Histadrut labor federation following the IDF's recovery over the weekend of six hostages' bodies from the Gaza Strip. "We call on the prime minister not to give up to [Hamas terror chief Yahya] Sinwar and instead to keep up military pressure to achieve total victory," Yehoshua Shani, a member of the forum whose son IDF Capt. Ori Shani was killed in...
(JNS) — As tensions between Israel and Iran escalate, a group of American military veterans is preparing to evacuate U.S. citizens from the region for the second time since Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught on southwestern Israel. “Our ambition is for every American who travels to know that Project DYNAMO is there to help them if the need were to arise,” Mario Duarte, president and CEO of the Florida-based organization, told JNS on Sunday. Project DYNAMO was created in 2021, as the United States pulled forces out of Afghanistan. After the withdrawal, th...
(JNS) — The Knesset plenum voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday in favor of a resolution rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state. The resolution, put forward by MK Ze’ev Elkin of the New Hope-National Right party with support from the Yisrael Beiteinu Party and the Land of Israel Caucus, passed by 68 to 9. The Land of Israel Caucus, the mission of which is to strengthen Israeli control of Judea and Samaria, includes members from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition as well as Benny Gantz‘s centrist National Unity P...
(JNS) — Google’s parent company Alphabet is in advanced talks to acquire Israeli cloud cybersecurity startup Wiz in a deal worth some $23 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. If the agreement is inked, it would represent the California tech giant’s biggest-ever buy (scorching the previous record of $12.5 billion for Motorola Mobility in 2012). It would also mark a significant achievement for Israel’s high-tech sector. “This is the largest acquisition to ever happen in the Israeli high-tech sector. It’s a sign of the strength of...
(JNS) — Hamas has rejected the Israeli hostage-ceasefire deal, claiming that it is fundamentally different than the one presented by U.S. President Joe Biden on May 31, the Saudi daily Asharq al-Awsat reported on Thursday. The Gaza-based terror group sent a clarification memorandum to the Palestinian terror factions on Wednesday, the text of which was seen by the news outlet. It claims that the current proposal “does not promise a permanent ceasefire, the occupation’s forces will remain in Gaza, and when they receive the hostages, they will...
(JNS) — “I am very cheerful and full of joy. For the first time since October 7, I feel that I can breathe again,” Aviram Meir, the uncle of Almog Meir Jan, told JNS on Thursday. Meir Jan was rescued during “Operation Arnon” last Saturday along with Noa Argamani, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv from two separate locations in Nuseirat Camp in the central Gaza Strip. Hamas terrorists abducted all four from the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im during the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre. “We thank all the decision-makers, the planners and the soldi...
(JNS) - Thousands of Israelis converged on "Hostage Square" in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, many euphoric over the daring operation to rescue four captives from Gaza even while demanding a deal with Hamas to secure the freedom of the remaining 120 Israelis held by the terrorists. During a complex daytime operation in the heart of a crowded residential neighborhood, Israeli forces recovered from Hamas captivity Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40. "I was so...
(JNS) - "It's a miracle," Liat Ariel told JNS on Monday. Ariel's cousin Shlomi Ziv, along with Noa Argamani, Almog Meir and Andrey Kozlov, was rescued by Israeli forces in a daring daylight raid on Saturday after spending 246 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza. "We are still digesting the news. We don't really quite understand what happened to us. Suddenly, Shlomi is back," Ariel said. "We are so happy and a bit nervous. We want to make sure that he is fine. He looks alright physically but...
By (JNS) — Evacuees from Israel’s north set up a tent encampment on Tuesday outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem to protest their ongoing displacement due to daily attacks by the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon. “We’ve been unable to return to our homes for more than seven months. We won’t go back until we know we’re safe,” Raphael Salve, co-founder of Lobby 1701, a group representing displaced people from northern towns and villages, told JNS. Lobby 1701 is named after the U.N. Security Council Resolution that...
(JNS) - The Hostages and Missing Families Forum on Wednesday evening released a video of Hamas terrorists abducting female Israel Defense Forces spotters on Oct. 7. Footage taken by body cameras of the terrorists reveals the violence and trauma experienced by five of the seven spotters captured alive from the Nahal Oz base. Another 15 field observers serving there were murdered during the attack. The video running time is 3 minutes and 10 seconds. It was edited and censored to exclude the most...
(JNS) - Israelis evacuated from their homes in communities opposite the Gaza Strip and the Upper Galilee, who live in temporary housing arrangements, have been provided specially designed areas called "Quiet Rooms" for them to retrieve some peace and privacy. The "Quiet Rooms," modeled after Beit Issie Shapiro's Snoezelen rooms, are controlled spaces designed to reduce anxiety and mental stress while calming sensory overload. Since 1993, when their first Snoezelen room opened, Ra'anana-based...
(JNS) - "Somehow I know that Shani attended the Supernova festival on October 7 for a reason. Had she not, a lot more people would have died," Aviel Gabbay told JNS on Sunday. Aviel's sister Shani Gabbay was murdered by Hamas terrorists and later mistakenly buried along with another victim. "My father [Yaakov] would not have driven three hours from Yokneam [in the Lower Galilee] to Kibbutz Re'im [near Gaza] to look for her and would not have saved many others in the process," Aviel said. Shani...
(JNS) - "Our unity gives us as much protection as our army. We need it just as much to secure our existence," Sapir Cohen, who spent 55 days in Hamas captivity, told JNS on Monday. On Oct. 6, on the eve of Simchat Torah, Cohen and her boyfriend, Alex Trufanov, drove to Kibbutz Nir Oz to spend the holiday with his parents. The next morning, they woke up to loud explosions. "We hid under the bed. There was nowhere else to hide. Then, I heard screams of 'Allahu Akbar.' Terrorists were yelling and t...
(JNS) - Families of deceased hostages whose bodies are still being held by Hamas in Gaza carried an empty coffin through Jerusalem on Thursday to raise awareness of their plight and call for the return of their loved ones. "I am attending this rally because we, the families of deceased hostages, are a unique group," Ruby Chen, the father of American-Israeli dual citizen Sgt. Itay Chen, 19, told JNS on Thursday. Itay, from Netanya, was stationed at the Nahal Oz army base as part of a tank unit...
