Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 19 of 19
Israeli Ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer leveled scathing criticism at The New York Times on Friday over an article pointing out that the Israel Defense Forces’ research and development efforts, which have proven crucial in Israel’s battle against the coronavirus, are predominately dedicated to devising ways to counter the Jewish state’s enemies. The article, “Israeli Army’s Idea Lab Aims at a New Target: Saving Lives,” which was published on Thursday, states that “The Israeli Defense Ministry’s research-and-development arm is best known f...
(JNS)—The Israel Defense Forces braced for violent clashes on the Gaza Strip-Israel border on Friday as the “March of Return” national committee urged Gazans to take part in demonstrations and disturbances along the border. Judging by past demonstrations, which have been staged on a weekly basis since late March, protesters were expected to throw rocks and firebombs at Israeli troops securing the border and try to breach the border fence and infiltrate Israeli territory. A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committee posted a call onlin... Full story
(JNS)—A bipartisan bill that would cement U.S. military aid to Israel into law has passed a major hurdle on Wednesday night. The U.S. House of Representative approved the measure, known as the Ileana Ros-Lehtinen U.S.-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018, several weeks after it passed the Senate. It will now head for the president’s desk. Under the proposed legislation, the $38 billion in military aid over 10 years spelled out under the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding would be funded through a special mechanism that would be... Full story
(JNS)—Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas is reportedly facing substantial pressure to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump’s top Middle East advisers this week, despite the rift between Washington and Ramallah. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, and U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt, will visit Israel, Egypt and Jordan to discuss the upcoming U.S. peace plan for the region. Abbas has rejected the United States as a peace broker in the wake of Trump’s Dec. 6 recogni... Full story
(JNS)—As part of the May 14 ceremony to mark the official opening of the US Embassy, a mezuzah will be affixed to the embassy building. According to a Channel 20 report, organizers decided on the unusual move of holding a religious ceremony to install the mezuzah as a gesture to Israel and following the recommendation of US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. At a special event to mark the 70th anniversary of Israel’s founding at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem on Monday, Friedman said he sees Jerusalem as a religious pla... Full story
(JNS.org, and Aish Hatorah Resources)—President Macron equated anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism and said Jew-hatred wasn’t born with the Vichy regime, nor did it die after the liberation of France. French President Emmanuel Macron is not the first French president to give a speech at the annual memorial ceremony commemorating the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup in July 1942, when some 13,000 Parisian Jews—a third of them children—were rounded up and taken to a local stadium and subsequently expelled to Nazi concentration and death camps. This operation w... Full story
After speaking to Congress on March 3 despite the objections of the Obama administration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “a prime minister in Israel must be able to stand up even to our closest ally and tell the truth.” In an interview published Friday by Israel Hayom, whose English-language content is distributed exclusively by JNS.org, Netanyahu said his speech about the Iranian nuclear threat was “well worth the cost of confrontation” with President Barack Obama. The White House had opposed the speech on the grounds... Full story
Ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's much-debated March 3 address to a joint session of Congress about the Iranian nuclear threat, former U.S. secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld said that the focus on protocol and the speech's venue, rather than on the content of Netanyahu's message, "plays into the hands" of the U.S.-Israel relationship's opponents. "I find it stunning to see the comments out of the White House on this issue," Rumsfeld said in an interview with Israel Hayom,... Full story
The four-year term of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz officially ended Monday, with Gantz handing command of the military over to his deputy, Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, during a ceremony at Rabin Base in Tel Aviv. While serving as Gantz’s deputy, Eizenkot was part of major decisions on military reforms. He assumes command of the IDF during a time marked by tension in all sectors: the potential for further escalations in Gaza, concern over the growing unrest among Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, the volatile s... Full story
Thanks to the efforts of a bus driver who fought off a Palestinian terrorist, the stabbing attack that injured 12 people aboard Dan Bus No. 40 in Tel Aviv last week did not end in a single death. Israeli police officials praised the actions of Herzl Biton, the 55-year-old bus driver who was the first person to get stabbed by terrorist Hamza Muhammed Hassan Matrouk. Despite being seriously wounded, Biton managed to use pepper spray on the assailant and fight him off while simultaneously opening... Full story
(JNS.org) Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow is "quietly converting to Judaism," The New York Post reported. The outlet's gossip column, Page Six, reported that Paltrow is converting after following kabbalah for years. Many non-Jewish celebrities have adopted or followed the teachings of kabbalah, most notably Madonna. Paltrow's late father, Bruce Paltrow, who died in 2002 of cancer, was Jewish. Her mother, Blythe Danner, is Christian. The actress has said she was raised with both religions.... Full story
Leading up to the start of a new academic year in Israel, parents in the rocket-battered south are saying they do not feel safe sending their children back to school. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at his weekly cabinet meeting that the current operation in Gaza would not end before the beginning of the school year on Sept. 1. Gaza terrorists have fired thousands of rockets and mortars into the communities in the south in recent weeks. Israeli officials—including Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, and Edu... Full story
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched "Operation Protective Edge" in Gaza after at least 80 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel on Monday night. Above Netivot and Ashdod, the Iron Dome missile defense system shot down 12 rockets. In Ashdod, residents fled for shelter as rocket sirens sounded throughout the city, and eight people were injured. Beersheba-Israel's largest southern city-and Ofakim were also subjected to Gaza rocket fire, with most of those rockets either striking open... Full story
"We don't consider Iran as an enemy," Israeli President Shimon Peres told CNN's Richard Quest on Sunday at the Globes Israel Business Conference in Tel Aviv. Asked whether he would be willing to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Peres replied, "Why not? I don't have enemies." "It's not a matter of a person but of a policy," Peres said. "The [goal] is to convert enemies into friends." In August, Rouhani reportedly said of Israel, "After all, in our region there has been a wound for... Full story
Israel should do all it can to help the new secular government in Egypt beat the Muslim Brotherhood, even if that means amending the Military Annex of the Camp David peace accords to allow more Egyptian military assets into the Sinai Peninsula, the former director of Israel’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau in the Prime Minister’s Office Brig. Gen. (Res.) Nitzan Nuriel said Sunday. Speaking to Army Radio, Nuriel said a defeat for the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters in the Sinai would reverberate across the Middle East, and would be of huge str... Full story
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last Sunday that former Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Jacob Frenkel, who headed the central bank between 1991 and 2000, will replace outgoing Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, whose term ended this week. The new governor’s nomination is pending the approval of the Public Service Nominations Committee, headed by Judge (ret.) Jacob Turkel, as well as a cabinet vote. The nomination faces a legislative hurdle, as the Bank of Israel Law of 1... Full story
While the U.S. administration has officially adopted the position that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons and has declared publicly that it will provide the rebels with military aid, it appears that behind-the-scenes preparations are still being made for a much larger move. Israel, Jordan, and the U.S. are jointly planning an attack aimed at destroying the unconventional weapons stockpiles in Syria, Time magazine reported over last weekend. According to the report, which was based on interviews with senior Israeli military and... Full story
There is a “real possibility” that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “could survive Syria’s civil war and even prevail in it” against the rebels trying to topple him, Israeli International Relations and Strategic Affairs Minister Dr. Yuval Steinitz told a group of foreign journalists in Jerusalem on Monday. Steinitz’s comments reflect the recent turnaround in Assad’s fortunes, with success on the battlefield thanks to immense military aid from Hezbollah, financial aid by Iran, and diplomatic cover by Russia. The assessment also underscores t... Full story
An Israeli government review of the death of 12-year-old Muhammad al-Dura during the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000 has officially debunked a French television report suggesting he was killed by direct Israel Defense Forces fire. The 36-page report, which was presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, further concluded that it was highly likely that the boy survived the incident unscathed and therefore may still be alive. The boy’s father, Jamal, urged an international inquest into t... Full story
