Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 128
(JNS) — After last year’s public service was canceled over fear of altercations, gender-separated Yom Kippur prayers will be held in a Tel Aviv public space in October. The Tel Aviv Municipality on Thursday issued the Rosh Yehudi NGO a permit to hold prayers in Meir Park, located in the center of the metropolis, Ynet reported on Thursday. Rosh Yehudi (“Jewish Head” in Hebrew) tries to spread Orthodox Judaism in Tel Aviv, an attempt that has been met in the past with antagonism in the predominantly secular city. Prayers in Meir Park will be...
(JNS) — The Trump administration has issued broad additional restrictions on visa applications by holders of Palestinian Authority travel documents, The New York Times reported on Sunday, citing four American officials. The measures, said to have been announced in an Aug. 18 cable sent to all U.S. diplomatic missions, would prevent Palestinians from Samaria and Judea from entering America, including for medical treatment, university studies, visits to friends or relatives and business travel. The new policy reportedly goes beyond the s...
(JNS) - The Palestinian Authority on Monday condemned attempts by Jewish activist groups to sound the shofar on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, calling the ram's horn a "dangerous tool" used by Israel to assert sovereignty. The P.A.'s Jerusalem Governorate warned in a statement that the Jewish tradition of sounding the shofar throughout the Hebrew month of Elul is "no longer a passing religious ritual but has become one of the most dangerous tools of the occupation to impose its alleged sovereignty."...
(JNS) - The largest dam in ancient Israel, uncovered just outside the walled Old City of Jerusalem, has been dated back to the time of the biblical kings, some 2,800 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday. The monumental dam, which runs about 12 meters high, more than 8 meters wide and 21 meters long, was excavated over the last two years in the history-rich ancient City of David. A new study carried out jointly with the Weizmann Institute of Science concludes that the...
(JNS) — Robin Westman, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot after killing two children at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minn., wrote of murdering “filthy Zionist Jews,” that “six million wasn’t enough” and “free Palestine,” the New York Post reported on Wednesday. The Post said that it translated writings in the Cyrillic alphabet by the shooter, 32, who was transgender. “If I will carry out a racially motivated attack, it would be most likely against filthy Zionist jews [sic],” the shooter reportedly wrote in a journal that the...
(JNS) — Former Hamas hostage Keith Siegel told the Haredi radio station Kol Barama on Wednesday that his faith was strengthened during the almost 500 days he spent in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip. “As a boy, Judaism did not speak to me, but in captivity, I reconnected,” Siegel said in the interview, two days after he joined a special prayer service at the Western Wall late on Monday night for the release of the remaining 50 hostages still in Gaza after 690 days. “Every day, I said ‘Shema Yisrael’ and I recited a blessing over the food. S...
(JNS) — A German government spokesperson declared on Friday that Berlin has no immediate plans to recognize a Palestinian state, calling such a move at this stage “counterproductive” to the pursuit of a negotiated two-state solution with Israel. “A negotiated two-state solution remains our goal, even if it seems a long way off today,” the spokesperson told a press briefing. “Recognition of Palestine is more likely to come at the end of such a process. Right now, it would undermine efforts toward peace.” Berlin’s statement stands in sharp...
(JNS) — Israel is set to carry out the world’s first ever implant of a lab-grown spinal cord using a patient’s own cells, in a medical breakthrough offering a potential cure for paralysis, Tel Aviv University announced on Wednesday. The groundbreaking surgery, which is expected to be carried out in the coming months, marks a milestone in regenerative science, with the goal of enabling the patient to walk again within a year. The university said that the Israeli Ministry of Health has given...
(JNS) - A gold coin dating back about 2,200 years has been uncovered just outside the walled Old City of Jerusalem, shedding new light on the development of the city after the destruction of the first ancient Jewish Temple, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday. The small denomination quarter-drachma, made of pure gold (99.3 percent), and dated to 246–241 BCE, was minted for Queen Berenice II during the reign of her husband, Ptolemy III, the state-run archaeological body s...
(JNS) — A German government spokesperson declared on Friday that Berlin has no immediate plans to recognize a Palestinian state, calling such a move at this stage “counterproductive” to the pursuit of a negotiated two-state solution with Israel. “A negotiated two-state solution remains our goal, even if it seems a long way off today,” the spokesperson told a press briefing. “Recognition of Palestine is more likely to come at the end of such a process. Right now, it would undermine efforts toward peace.” Berlin’s statement stands in sharp...
(JNS) — Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas on Monday evening issuing a presidential decree establishing a committee to draft an interim constitution, the Ramallah-run Wafa news agency reported. The move comes against the backdrop of France, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia declaring their intentions to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations meeting next month. “President Abbas took this step in the context of preparations for holding general elections following the cessation of Israeli genocidal aggression on the...
(JNS) — Former Hamas hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel led a group of protesters in Pretoria, South Africa on Monday to confront the International Committee of the Red Cross over its inaction regarding captives held by Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza. They were joined on the “Bring the Hostages Home” Solidarity Bus Ride to the South African capital by the South African Zionist Federation, members of civil society, faith leaders and political representatives. “We are here at the Red Cross o...
(JNS) — Israelis who were uprooted from the community of Sa-Nur in northern Samaria during the 2005 Gaza disengagement returned on Thursday morning to prepare the area for resettlement, Channel 14 reported. The group of evacuees cleaned up trash and repaired damage caused following the Arab takeover of the village, which is one of the two in Samaria that the Israeli government decided in May to reconstruct. The visit was led by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich — who initiated the Cabinet decision three months ago and whose brother use...
(JNS) — A significant drop in the level of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) was recorded on Sunday following an extreme heatwave that swept through Israel last week, bringing it closer to the lower red line, Hebrew media reported. “The Sea of Galilee has lost several centimeters since the start of the severe heatwave last week,” Kinneret Department Manager at the Water Authority Firas Telhami said, according to Ynet. “The evaporation rate, especially in the last two days of the peak of the heatwav...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized nationwide anti-government demonstrations on Sunday, saying at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting that the results are the opposite of what they claim to want. “Those who today call for ending the war without defeating Hamas are not only hardening Hamas’s position and distancing the release of our hostages, they are also ensuring that the horrors of Oct. 7 will repeat themselves, and that we will be forced to fight a never-ending war,” Netanyahu said. “Therefore, to advance the r...
The American real estate developer shared a message via Instagram, saying, “A state that produces such violence is one that should not exist.” Some of the comments underneath the post echoed Hadid’s message. “End Zionism and restore world peace!!!” one commenter wrote. “Yes exactly this. From the river to the sea Palestine will be free,” another person said. “I couldn’t agree more! Zioni$m needs to be dismantled for good!” a third wrote. Hadid, 76, has been vocal regarding his anti-Israel views. He was born in Nazareth in 1948, shortly befor...
(JNS) — In video footage screened for the first time at a rally in Tel Aviv on Sunday night, Hamas hostage Matan Zangauker appealed to family and friends to increase their efforts to secure his release. “To all my acquaintances, all my friends, go out and make noise as only you know how, and with God’s help we will see each other soon,” he said. Zangauker, who was taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, said that he missed his mother, sister and girlfriend, adding that “God willing” they would be re...
(JNS) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered Israeli assistance with Iran’s water woes once its people shake off the tyrannical regime in Tehran. “The thirst for water in Iran is only matched by the thirst for freedom,” the premier said in a nearly 5-minute video address to the Iranian people published on Tuesday. Speaking from Jerusalem, he detailed what the Jewish state could bring the “moment” that the regime is toppled and freedom is achieved: “Israel’s top water experts will flood into every Iranian city bringing cutting-edge te...
(JNS) — Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Wednesday announced the approval of 3,401 new housing units in the so-called E1 area near Ma’ale Adumim in Judea and Samaria. The E1 project has been delayed for decades due to international opposition, led by previous United States administrations. “Approval of construction plans in E1 buries the idea of a Palestinian state and continues the many steps we are taking on the ground as part of the de facto sovereignty plan that we began implementing with the establishment of the gover...
(JNS) — Israel is preparing the delivery of humanitarian supplies to vulnerable populations in South Sudan, the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced on Monday. The move is led by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who instructed the foreign ministry agency MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, to deliver urgent assistance to the crisis-hit country. The African nation is currently struggling with a cholera outbreak while also facing a severe shortage of resources, the ministry explained. The aid will include essen...
(JNS) — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) urged Israel to achieve decisive victory over Hamas, saying the Jewish state should “annihilate” the terrorist group and rebuild Gaza like the United States did in the aftermath of World War II with Germany and Japan. “I can’t believe we’re having a discussion about how to fight a war against people who want to destroy you as a people, the Israeli people,” Graham told CBS News’ “Meet the Press” when asked who should run the Gaza Strip if Israel gains complete military control there. “So [Israel] will t...
(JNS) — Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, stated on Aug. 1 that the Jewish state is guilty of the “mass starvation of innocent civilians” and of inflicting “heartbreaking and inexcusable” trauma on children and families. The word “Hamas” appeared nowhere in her LinkedIn post, titled “Thoughts and updates: standing in solidarity with Palestine.” “As you all know, Teach for Palestine, our network partner operating in the West Bank, is continuing its vital work despite escalating violence, severe restrictions on fundamental freedom...
(JNS) — Israel’s Security Cabinet was slated to meet Thursday night to decide on the continuation of the war on Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, with one option being a full-fledged occupation of the enclave. The ministers were set to gather at 6 p.m. at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem for the pivotal meeting and a subsequent vote. The session is scheduled to last until 11 p.m. but expected to last longer. A senior official told Ynet on Wednesday afternoon that while the Cabinet was expected to support the proposal to occupy Gaza...
(JNS) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday evening accused Palestinian terrorists of starving the hostages they have held in the Gaza Strip for 668 days "like the Nazis starved the Jews. "I too was horrified yesterday," Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office. "I saw the horrific videos of Rom and Evyatar, our dear sons. I called their families and embraced them on behalf of me and my wife, but also on your behalf. You see them languishing in a dungeon." Lat week, Hamas...
(JNS) — Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared on Tuesday evening that Israel is “at the closest point to achieving the war’s objectives,” emphasizing the need for victory in both Gaza and Yemen. Katz made the statement during a high-level security assessment with top defense officials, including IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and intelligence representatives. The meeting addressed evolving threats across the Middle East, with Katz stressing the importance of continuing operations to return all hostages and defeat Hamas. He also...
