Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 18 of 18
(JNS) - The southern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel chose a new leader in recent weeks that cements its continued role in the Israeli government. Sheikh Safwat Frij, who previously served as deputy head of the movement and based in Kafr Qasim, was elected over Sheikh Muhammad Salameh Hassan, a religious authority in the movement. He has publicly used harsh rhetoric, saying, "The people of Palestine are united from the river to the sea until the occupation disappears entirely." Frij...
(JNS) — European diplomats said on Tuesday that if Iran does not demonstrate seriousness in nuclear negotiations with world powers this week, there will be a problem. Andrea Stricker, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an expert on the Iran nuclear program, told JNS that “if Iran comes to talks with maximalist demands for sanctions relief and refuses to resume discussing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the P5+1 will quickly realize that Tehran’s game is one of extortion, and they could pivot to a unite...
(JNS) Algeria’s decision last week to sever diplomatic ties with its neighbor, Morocco, put the spotlight on the strengthening Israeli-Moroccan relations that were born out of the Abraham Accords. Prof. Bruce Maddy-Weitzman, an expert on North Africa and senior fellow at Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, told JNS that Algeria and Morocco have been “geopolitical and ideological rivals for more than a half-century on the morrow of attaining independence.” The future of Spain’s ex-colony, Western S...
(JNS) - Newly installed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi celebrated the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and the failure of the United States to leave smoothly after 20 years entrenched in the country, marking the beginning of what's likely to be a more aggressive stance there and on other fronts in the Middle East. American leaders have accused Iran of backing the Taliban in the fight against its military forces in Afghanistan. While a withdrawal was announced by the Biden administration earlier...
(JNS) - Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's release of the "Peace to Prosperity" Mideast plan earlier this year to help resolved issues associated with the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, it remains clear that no negotiations between the two parties are on the horizon amid a Palestinian boycott of the Trump administration. Given this and the ongoing discussion of Israel's imminent move to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, questions are being raised over the via...
(JNS)-The Arab Israeli public came out in force during the second round of elections on Sept. 17, and according to an Arab Knesset member and others, was motivated to prevent the formation of a right-wing government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also heads the Likud Party. On Wednesday, the Joint Arab List announced that it will boycott Thursday's swearing-in ceremony for the new Knesset as part of a general strike among Arab Israelis to protest what they say is the...
(JNS)—As the United States continues to ratchet up pressure on Iran and as Tehran continues to breach the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the question is whether the increased tensions could trigger a war. France is worried about the escalating situation. “The situation is serious. The rise of tensions could lead to accidents,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters when asked about the risk of a wider Middle East war, Reuters reported on Sunday. “No one wants a war. I...
(JNS)-"Far-right anti-Semitism is on the rise in the United States and Europe, but the response from both Jewish communities and law enforcement agencies has been defensive and case by case, rather than proactive and comprehensive," Yigal Carmon, the president of the Middle East Media Research Institute, told JNS in a recent interview. The threat to freedom in the United States is twofold, said Carmon. On the one hand is the jihadi threat, which manifests in terrorist attacks but is rooted in...
By Ariel Ben Solomon (JNS)—The Mideast peace plan soon to be presented by the U.S. administration is likely not going to get very far upon its initial presentation, but it could provide Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump with an opportunity to alter the dynamics of the conflict. Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch, told JNS in an exclusive interview that the Palestinian Authority “will definitely reject” the upcoming U.S. backed peace plan, and that past Palestinian behavior does...
(JNS) Saudi Arabia's King Salman and his powerful son Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (known for short as "MBS") continue to project stability despite the jitters that the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi sent through the American and European capitals. MBS appears confident, no matter the widely reported claims that he was responsible for Khashoggi's killing. On Monday, the prince launched the building of the country's first nuclear reactor. Meanwhile, the king started a weeklong domestic...
(JNS)-The tensions between Russia and Iran over Syria have intensified of late, and it appears that the interests of Russia, the United States and Israel are coalescing around limiting both Iran's and Hezbollah's role in Syria. But the question is: How far is Russian President Vladimir Putin willing to go? Israel, which has become increasingly alarmed at Iran's presence north of its border and its Lebanese terror proxy Hezbollah's military buildup in Syria, has urged Russia to force Iran out of...
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump said that Iran wasviolating the “spirit” of its nuclear deal with the P5+1 powers. Now, it is clear that the Islamic Republic is disregarding the letter of the accord, but the international community is ignoring and denying that reality, experts say. “It is mind-boggling that the violations are occurring in the open and all the parties to the agreement are pretending not to see it, and instead are dealing with issues that are important, but are not connected to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actio...
Iran is unlikely to halt its drive toward nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in the aftermath of President Donald Trump's recent refusal to recertify the Islamic Republic's compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement, experts say. Trump's move empowers Congress to decide whether to reimpose sanctions that were lifted as part of the deal between Iran and world powers. The Iranian leadership has made aggressive statements in response to the announcement of America's new and tougher approach,...
Galvanized by common threats by Iran and Islamic extremism, Israel and the its fellow Sunni Muslim Arab states have seen an unexpected warming in relations in recent years. However, despite public and closed-door cooperation, Israel still remains deeply unpopular among the so-called “Arab street.” Drawing on its high-tech prowess and unprecedented social media opportunities, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has strongly embraced new media channels to reach millions of viewers directly, including in the Arab world. Ofir Gende...
While Israeli government ministers in recent weeks have dueled over the acceptance of Palestinian "refugees" in a possible future Palestinian state, experts say the Arab world continues to refuse to take responsibility for the issue. "Unfortunately, responsibility is something which Arabs do not believe in, and therefore they demand that Israel solves a problem which they created," said Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a research associate at Bar-Ilan University's Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies...
Why aren’t Muslim countries leading givers to the Palestinian cause? The question has renewed relevance upon a United Nations agency’s recent release of its list of donors. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East claims to provide aid to around 5 million Palestinian “refugees,” a number that is disputed by the pro-Israel community because UNRWA also serves refugees’ descendants. Published this month, UNRWA’s list of donors for 2016 says Western countries and Japan are the most significant contributor...
While the international community hangs on to visions of a two-state solution, Israeli public opinion is unified in asserting that the establishment of a Palestinian state is unrealistic and undesirable. Only 12 percent of Jewish Israelis believe a West Bank withdrawal would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a survey published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairsat the end of March. Jewish support for withdrawal from the West Bank has decreased from 60 percent in 2005 to 36 percent in 2017. The survey also found that 79...
In the aftermath of Secretary of State John Kerry's recent speech defending the United Nations Security Council resolution against Israeli settlements and the Obama administration's refusal to veto the resolution, Israeli political figures are increasingly mulling the idea of annexing the West Bank and implementing a "one-state solution" during the incoming Donald Trump era. "The U.N. resolution destroyed any residual chance there might have been to achieve peace with the PLO (Palestine Liberati...
