Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Part Three of a series explaining Israel’s political system before Israelis go to the polls Imagine this headline after an American presidential election: “Candidate Wins the Most Votes—but Doesn’t Become President.” Americans would immediately assume something had gone terribly wrong. In Israel, however, that outcome is entirely possible. In fact, it has happened more than once. That is because Israelis do not directly elect their prime minister. Instead, they elect a 120-member Knesset. Only after those election results are known does the...
Part Two of a series explaining Israel’s political system before Israelis go to the polls In the first installment of this series, we learned that Israel is unlike the United States in one fundamental respect: the entire country is a single electoral district. Israelis do not elect members of the Knesset from local constituencies. Instead, they vote for political parties. That naturally raises the next question. If Israelis are voting for parties rather than individual candidates, who decides who actually serves in the Knesset? The answer is t...
The first in a series explaining Israel’s political system before Israelis go to the polls American Jews pay a great deal of attention to Israeli politics. We know the names. Benjamin Netanyahu. Yair Lapid. Naftali Bennett. Itamar Ben-Gvir. Yair Golan. Some American Jews identify passionately with Israel’s right. Others cheer on its left. We follow the polls and read about the latest political crisis. But as Israel approaches another national election, here is a question worth asking: How many American Jews actually understand how Israel elects...
(JNS) — As the father of a terror victim, as a Zionist and as an Israeli citizen, I quake with the report of every missile strike or terror attack against the Jewish state. That is not a figure of speech. It is not political theater. It is the involuntary reaction of someone who knows what a phone call can mean, what a headline can hide, and how quickly an ordinary day can become the day that divides a family’s life into before and after. The targets are always civilians. They are people going about their lives, trying to make a shekel, wai...
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s new counterterrorism strategy is now public, and its stated objective is exactly the right one: to protect Americans from terrorist groups and deter the support they receive from enemy actors. The strategy promises “peace through strength.” It repeats the president’s warning that those who hurt Americans or plan to hurt Americans will be found and killed. That is a powerful standard. But it will be measured not by words aimed at enemies alone, nor by how aggressively Washington names threats. It will be mea...
\(JNS) — Watching the Academy Awards used to be a simple pleasure. Movie stars received statues, thanked their agents, thanked God, and occasionally, remembered to thank their parents. Now the Oscars have become something else: an improvised foreign-policy seminar conducted by people whose professional expertise lies in pretending to be someone else. This year’s ceremony followed the now familiar script. Comedian Conan O’Brien, this year’s host, reminded viewers that these are “very chaotic, frightening times.” Later, comedian and TV show hos...
(JNS) — A constitution is the moment a national movement decides what it will leave behind—and what it intends to carry forward. When a national movement publishes a draft constitution, it is making a statement not only about governance but about its future intentions. It is saying: This is who we are. This is what we aspire to become. This is how we intend to live with others. The newly released draft constitution of the “State of Palestine” does many things. It speaks the language of rights. It promises democratic institutions. It describ...
(JNS) — Television rarely gets Jewish life right. Too often, Jewish characters are comic foils, political symbols or walking memorials of tragedy. That’s what makes Dr. Michael Robinavitch (played by Noah Wyle, who had a lead role in the TV series “ER” that aired on NBC from 1994 to 2009, and whose father, original name Weil, is Jewish)—in HBO’s medical drama “The Pitt”—quietly remarkable. He is not defined by neurosis or by slogans. He is defined by how he treats people. This lead physician goes by “Dr. Robby,” sparing patients the need to pro...
(JNS) —The opening of Phase 2 of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan is being described as a case of realism. It risks reviving a dangerous illusion: that Hamas can be reasoned into relinquishing power if offered reconstruction, recognition or the promise of a “better life.” That illusion should have died on Oct. 7. American officials now speak of engaging and coordinating with Hamas on Gaza’s governance, as if the terror organization that planned and carried out mass murder can be separated from the political system it dominates...
(JNS) — For decades, victims of Iranian-sponsored terrorism have been told to be patient. We were told the regime was permanent. That the Islamic Republic of Iran was too entrenched, too ruthless and too strategically important to ever be held fully accountable. Courts might rule in our favor, we were advised, but enforcement was another matter entirely. Justice, if it came at all, would come slowly—if ever. Now, as the Iranian regime shows visible signs of strain, victims are watching events unfold with something closer to quiet vigilance tha...
Scroll through X long enough, and you’ll see it: Muslim preachers denouncing America as corrupt, portraying liberal democracy as a fraud, and — most alarming — arguing that Sharia law should replace the U.S. Constitution. Some clips are foreign. Some are domestic. Some are deceptively edited. But enough are real, and enough are applauded, that dismissing the phenomenon as “rage bait” is no longer responsible. Let’s begin with a principle that should unite Americans across party and faith: Religious freedom is not the same thing as permission...
(JNS) — Israel’s greatest strength is not only its military resilience or technological success, but its insistence on building a democratic, lawful, moral society in a region where power often substitutes for principle and justice is too often replaced by vengeance. From the first days of its founding, the State of Israel has insisted that Jewish sovereignty must rest on a different foundation — one anchored in due process, accountable government, ethical national defense and a justice system that binds leaders and citizens alike, Jews and n...
(JNS)— The Council on American-Islamic Relations presents itself as a benign civil-rights organization; however, behind this friendly facade lurks an extremist core. From its inception, CAIR has harbored alarming ties to jihadist groups like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood—connections that reveal it as a wolf in sheep’s clothing and a threat to the American way of life. While CAIR denies supporting terrorism and touts its advocacy for Muslim Americans, evidence from courtrooms, investigations and even its own leaders’ words tells a darker...
(JNS) — My daughter Alisa was murdered in a Palestinian Islamic Jihad-Iranian sponsored terrorist attack in Gaza on April 9, 1995. She was 20 years old, a college student studying at Nishmat in Jerusalem on a leave of absence from Brandeis University. She had worked hard at college for more than two years to take that leave of absence. It was her sixth trip to Israel. In that instant, my world was divided into “Before and After.” It has never returned to Before; it never will. I can’t read stories about hostage returns or terror victims without...
(JNS) — As Israelis continue to debate the release of convicted terrorists as part of the current hostage exchange deal with Hamas, they aren’t the only ones thinking about prisoner releases. American victims of Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups and their families are watching, too. For us, the prospect of seeing the murderers of American citizens walk free is not an abstract policy issue. It is deeply personal. Thirty years ago, my daughter Alisa Flatow, a 20-year-old American college student, was murdered in a Palestinian terror att...
(JNS) — At first glance, the surge of support by Democratic elected officials for recognizing Palestinian statehood seems an act of moral clarity: After decades of suffering, political displacement and human tragedy, isn’t it overdue for Palestinians to receive the diplomatic recognition so many world powers already afford them? Beneath the veneer of humanitarian concern and lofty rhetoric, however, lies a host of practical, ethical and strategic problems that Democratic politicians seem to gloss over—and that deserve a harder look from voters...
(JNS) — In September 1972, the world watched in horror as Palestinian terrorists stormed the Olympic Village in Munich, taking members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage. By the time the ordeal ended, 11 Israeli athletes were dead. The world’s reaction was predictable: outrage, speeches and hand-wringing, but little action. The International Olympic Committee hurried to resume the Games. West German officials bungled the rescue attempt and then quietly released three of the captured terrorists. Israel drew a very different conclusion. The...
(JNS) — When Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich recently approved some 3,400 new housing units in Area E1, global condemnation was swift. Kaja Kallas, the foreign-policy chief for the European Union, denounced the move as “illegal under international law” and a mortal threat to the “viability of a future Palestinian state.” But there’s a glaring omission in this outrage: For years, the European Union has sponsored Palestinian construction across Area C, including E1 itself, without permits and in direct violation of the framework of the...
(JNS) — Let’s be honest: Benjamin Netanyahu is not everyone’s favorite politician. That’s fair. Debate over policy, leadership and politics is healthy in any democracy, including Israel’s. But there comes a point in times of war when internal disagreements must be set aside. Because this war is not about Bibi. It is about Israel’s survival. And the Jewish people, especially American Jews, must not let personality distract from principle. Since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has faced a military, moral and psychologic...
(JNS) — When we speak of Israel’s diverse society, the spotlight often falls on its Jewish majority. But among the most steadfast pillars of the Israeli mosaic is the Druze community — a tiny, secretive offshoot of Islam whose loyalty to the state has become a model of shared citizenship. Roughly 140,000 Druze live in Israel, primarily in villages across the Galilee and on Mount Carmel. Unlike other Arab citizens, Druze men are subject to mandatory military conscription in the Israel Defense Forces and often volunteer for combat roles. They...
(JNS) — Israel, with support from the United States, makes the Middle East and Europe safer. So, how is it being repaid? With calls for the creation of a Palestinian state, made unilaterally. Countries such as France, Ireland, Spain and Norway have already moved toward recognizing Palestinian statehood. The United Kingdom and others may soon follow. Some present this as a bold step toward peace. In reality, unilateral recognition undermines Israel’s security, emboldens extremists and sets back the cause of genuine peace. From Israel’s stand...
(JNS) — The May 21 terror attack in Washington, D.C., where two Israeli embassy staffers planning to get married were shot and killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum is more than a national tragedy. It is a harbinger. The murder of Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, allegedly committed by Elias Rodriguez while shouting “Free, free Palestine,” is not only an act of terrorism; it is a symptom of a far more dangerous climate of normalized antisemitism in the United States. You would have to be intentionally wearing blinders not t...
(JNS) — This week, one of our prayers has been answered: Edan Alexander is free. Taken hostage during the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, and dragged into the Gaza Strip along with some 250 others, he is now able to see the sky after 584 days in captivity. And while we thank God for his return, we must also take a few minutes to reflect on something even larger — what it means when a young man like Edan chooses to leave his family, friends and future behind to serve a people and a nation he didn’t have to. Because he didn...
(JNS) — Harvard University’s decision to “pause” a research partnership with Birzeit University, a Palestinian university near Ramallah, was long overdue. In 2023, Israeli security forces arrested eight students from Birzeit University who were planning what was described as “an imminent terror attack.” That apparently meant that the plan wasn’t just theoretical; it was on the verge of becoming operational. Birzeit should be known as “Terror U” for its students’ active support of Hamas. For instance, a basketball championship game w...
By (JNS) — Despite all that’s happening in Israel, the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, three U.S. senators—the chairs of important senate committees—are outraged over the behavior of some Jewish residents of the Shomron and Yehuda. The three—Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chair of the committee; Jack Reed (D-R.I.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee; and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence—sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen expressing their growing...
