Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 60
By (JNS) — Israel today finds itself standing increasingly alone as the world rejects its right to defend itself against genocidal enemies. And as the United States heads to elections in November, Israelis are worried that Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is demonstrating less support for Israel and more sympathy for Palestinians and their supporters. For instance, she has consistently tried to tie Israel’s hands, calling for the Jewish state to end its war against Hamas, and refused to attend Prime Minister Ben...
(JNS) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is reportedly considering blacklisting the IDF’s Netzach Yehuda Battalion under the “Leahy Laws,” two statutory provisions that, according to the State Department, prohibit the U.S. government “from using funds for assistance to units of foreign security forces where there is credible information implicating that unit in the commission of gross violations of human rights.” Extreme political NGOs and rights organizations often falsely accuse Israel of committing human rights abuses. In October 202...
(JNS, KIBBUTZ BE'ERI) - Israel and a significant portion of the international community have been deeply affected by the events of Saturday, Oct. 7, when Hamas carried out a coordinated land, air and sea attack on multiple communities on the Israeli side of the Gaza border. This heinous act resulted in the loss of more than 1,400 lives, with thousands sustaining injuries and at least 222 persons, including women, children, the elderly and soldiers, being taken captive. Disturbing footage of the...
(JNS) — Israel is preparing the world for the moment it needs to enter Hamas’s main headquarters, located inside and underneath Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, and is focusing media efforts on exposing the terror group’s activities there. According to Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Daniel Hagari, Israel has “concrete evidence” that “hundreds” of terrorists flooded into the hospital to hide from Israeli retaliation following Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre. Israel released video footage on Friday in which a captured Hamas terrorist, a member of the ...
(JNS) — Almost three years have elapsed since the signing of the Abraham Accords on the White House lawn. Everything appeared to be progressing smoothly until last month, when a planned visit of Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen to Bahrain was postponed due to “scheduling issues.” This set off concerns that Israel’s relationship with Manama is unstable. Critics at the time blamed the alleged cooling of relations on Israel’s security policy in Judea and Samaria, conflicts between Israelis...
(JNS) — Under pressure from Washington, Israel appears to be slowly withdrawing from its business relationship with China, while simultaneously building one with India. According to Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, over the last two years, the United States has been urging Israel to decouple from China. Sam Millner, a policy analyst for the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, noted earlier this month that the U...
(JNS) - As European and American negotiating teams continue to convene in Vienna in an attempt to sign a new nuclear deal with Iran, the Iranian people have taken to the streets to protest the rising cost of living. Food and gasoline prices have risen, and clean water is scarce. Unemployment is high, and prices of goods have skyrocketed. Western media outlets will have readers believe that Iran's economy is tanking due to United States-led sanctions only, but there is more to the story; in...
(JNS) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday rejected the Biden administration's outline for a deal with Iran. Members voted 86-12 to approve a motion that opposes the lifting of terrorism sanctions on Iran to limit cooperation between it and China. Senators also voted 66-13 to approve a motion to block the delisting of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The lawmakers also demanded that any final deal must address all of Iran's destabilizing activities. The...
(JNS) - Jordan fears it is losing its recognized status as official custodian of Jerusalem's holy Muslim sites, including the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site, as Palestinians incited by Hamas, other terror groups and the Palestinian Authority continuously held riots during the Muslim month of Ramadan. In at least one incident, rioters nearly set the Al-Aqsa mosque on fire. Jordan has blamed Israel for the violence and for violating the status quo there. And now, it is demanding total...
(JNS) — A new report by NGO Monitor debunks the accusation of apartheid against Israel and assesses whether apartheid, as previously defined, is applicable to Israel and territories under its military administration. This new report, titled “Neo-Orientalism: Deconstructing Claims of Apartheid in the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict” and written by legal expert Joshua Kern, and legal adviser and U.N. representative for NGO Monitor Anne Herzberg, expands on a previous report published in December that sought to rectify the lack of a coherent and l...
(JNS) - As Russia pushes further into Ukraine and threatens its capital Kyiv - and as Russian President Vladimir Putin appears unfazed and undeterred by Western nations willing to sanction Russia through economic means, but afraid to fight militarily to save innocent Ukrainian civilians - the question arises: What could the world have done to deter Putin? And what does this mean for the State of Israel? John Hardie, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS that...
(JNS) — Israel could expect to see the arrival of a total of 15,000 Ukrainians by the end of the month if it continues to allow entry to refugees fleeing their war-torn country at the current pace, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked told the Cabinet during its weekly Sunday meeting. “Since the outbreak of the war, 2,034 Ukrainian nationals have entered Israel,” she said. “We are on an upward trend.” Former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told JNS that Israel is “intent on exhausting every possible option in the hope of hel...
(JNS) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recognition on Feb. 21 of two “breakaway” states in eastern Ukraine and his subsequent dispatch of “peacekeepers” there — considered by Western nations to be an official invasion of the country — has left its citizens and particularly the Jewish communities on edge. Throughout Ukraine, Jewish leaders are watching closely, and many have made contingency plans in the event the situation worsens. Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi Yaakov Bleich told JNS that the Jews “are part of the general community. What’s g...
(JNS) — The Jerusalem-based Kohelet Policy Forum sent a request on Jan. 16 under Israel’s Freedom of Information Act to Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, asking for information and details on his agreement to transfer hundreds of millions of shekels to the Palestinian Authority. The problem, according to Kohelet, is that such a move violates Israeli law, which directly prohibits money transfers to the P.A. as a consequence of its pay-for-slay policy that awards Palestinian terrorists with money if they kill Israelis. In his meeting las...
(JNS) - Amnesty International's latest controversial report released on Feb. 1 during a press conference in Jerusalem, this time accusing Israel of apartheid, has come under fierce condemnation from the Israeli government and Jewish groups around the world as being "anti-Semitic." The Biden administration rejected it as "absurd." Some U.S. lawmakers denounced it as "rooted in historic prejudices and false narratives." But Amnesty has doubled down on its accusation, claiming any argument to the...
(JNS) — For two years now, since the outbreak of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, hotels in Israel have seen dramatic drops in stays by incoming tourists; tour guides have lost most, if not all, of their business; and restaurants and other business owners who rely heavily on visitor traffic have suffered catastrophic and often irreversible damage, with many forced to close. The question on everyone’s mind is: When will tourism to Israel pick up again? Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahum told JNS that the tourism industry has been mos...
(JNS) — As details emerged from Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s Dec. 28 meeting at his private residence in Rosh Ha’ayin with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, many Israelis were left in shock. According to various reports, Gantz had offered Abbas a series of “confidence-building measures” as described by the Israeli Defense Ministry, which included economic benefits to the P.A. with regard to VAT, import taxes and excise duties; a NIS 100 million ($32.2 million) loan; 1,100 entry permits for Palestinian businessmen; and dozens...
(JNS) — As Lebanon’s citizens deal with a collapsing economy and a paralyzed government, murmurings of dissatisfaction with Hezbollah, Iran’s terror proxy in Beirut, have begun to surface. But experts say it is unrealistic to believe Hezbollah’s iron grip on the country will loosen. These simmering tensions were expressed even more publicly in a televised speech made by Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Dec. 27, when he called for a “national dialogue” to confront the country’s political and social issues. Aoun warned that Lebanon was ...
(JNS) — A new procedure through which Sephardic Jews of Portuguese origin can apply for Portuguese citizenship is expected to eliminate cumbersome paperwork by going digital. Portugal has taken an active role in fostering Jewish life since 2015, and part of this effort included passing a law granting Portuguese nationality to Jews of families from traditional Sephardic communities whose ancestors had been expelled in the 15th century. This move came as Portugal seeks to atone for what became known as the Inquisition. Chelsea FC soccer team o...
(JNS) — As U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan arrived in Israel on Tuesday to discuss Iran and other strategic issues, and as nuclear talks continue in Vienna, the Israeli leadership increasingly believes that applying heavy pressure on Tehran is the only way to stop the Iranian advance toward nuclear weapons. But where exactly do the U.S. and Israel go from here on the Iranian threat? Sima Shine — head of the Iran program at the Institute for National Security Studies think tank as well as former head of the research and eva...
(JNS) - Ukrainian, Israeli, American and European leaders joined together online on Dec. 15-16 for the third-annual Kyiv Jewish Forum to discuss the historic relations between the Jewish and Ukrainian peoples, the rise of global antisemitism and the looming threats to both nations. "We know what it's like not to have our own state," said Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, referring to both Ukrainians and Jews. "We know what it means to defend one's own state and land with weapons in hand...
(JNS) — Michael Oren says he has been “integrally linked to the Jewish Agency” for years. The former Israeli ambassador to the United States and former Knesset member is one of eight candidates to head the organization. He has a long history with the Jewish Agency for Israel, which he hopes will continue with him at its helm. According to Oren, 66, the Jewish Agency used to be viewed “as a sinecure for politicians.” “That practice seriously impaired [its] image and effectiveness,” he said. “It would be tragic if now, at this most critical t...
(JNS) - "Hands out of your pockets, sir!" barked a U.S. Secret Service agent at a bewildered pedestrian as Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett walked down the Fifth Avenue sidewalk in New York City, accompanied by a large entourage of Secret Service and Shin Bet agents, aides and reporters. A long motorcade of Black Secret Service Suburbans and police cars rolled alongside with blue lights flashing, keeping pace with the walkers. It was the eve of Shemini Atzeret, and Bennett had just come...
(JNS) "Israel is your home away from home," Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a message on Sept. 2, ahead of the Jewish New Year. His address was aimed at "the people of Israel and the Jewish people at large," which he referred to as his "extended family." Herzog was previously head of the Jewish Agency for Israel, where, as one of his stated objectives, he worked to provide a platform for all Jewish communities around the world. Today, the Jewish Agency's top position has yet to be...
(JNS) — As Israel observes the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, it’s difficult to forget the capitulation of the Iraqi army to ISIS in 2014 or the EUBAM observers who fled as Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip in 2007, not to mention visions of the United States fleeing Saigon in the spring of 1975 as part of the collapse of the Vietnam War. Noting the coincidental, yet equal number of years separating each of the Middle Eastern incidents in which Islamic fundamentalists defeated their adversaries, Eran Lerman, vice president of the Jer...
