Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — “Territory.” It’s a magical word in the lexicon of anti-Israeli sentiment, always tied to terms like “occupation” and “colonialism.” Yet the international public lashing out about “territory” fails to understand what is truly unfolding in the Gaza Strip. On Sunday, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved an expanded military plan in Gaza. The guiding principle? Wherever the Israel Defense Forces capture territory, they will stay. This marks a return to a classic strategic doctrine: Territory must be held if a war is to be won. It also...
This year, more than ever, it's impossible not to think about the execution of my best friend, Shirin Alamhooli, on May 9, 2010. I met Shirin in Iran's notorious Evin Prison where I had been arrested and sentenced to death by hanging because of converting to Christianity, a "crime" the Islamic regime calls "apostasy" and which carries a death penalty. I was arrested in March 2009. Shirin had already been in prison for some time as a political Kurdish prisoner. As a Christian, I had many people...
(JTA) — A Palestinian poet and essayist who evacuated Gaza with his family and chronicled the experience of dislocation for the New Yorker has won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Mosab Abu Toha left Gaza in December 2023 — after being detained by Israeli soldiers, in an experience he chronicled in his writing — and moved in 2024 to Syracuse, New York, after receiving a visa permitting him to teach at Syracuse University. The Pulitzer committee recognized four essays by Abu Toha: one exploring his memories of a now-destroyed landscape; o...
(JNS) - Since Gadi Moses's release at the end of January 2025, after 482 days in captivity in Gaza at the hands of Islamic Jihad, his daughter Moran has been struggling to keep up with him. The 81-year-old hostage returned with an energy that defies both his age and his ordeal, driven by a renewed determination to help rebuild his beloved Kibbutz Nir Oz. "He has no brakes," Moran said wryly, told interviewer Racheli Avidov and an intimate audience at the Valley Train Heritage Site in Kfar...
(JNS) — Just after he completed his first 100 days in office, I had the privilege of hearing President Donald Trump speak in the White House Rose Garden during America’s National Day of Prayer. I was amazed by all that had been accomplished. I sat behind Adi and Yael Alexander — their son, Edan Alexander, is the last remaining American citizen held hostage by Hamas believed to be alive. The president spoke about them at length and talked about his efforts to free the hostages still in Gaza. He described in brutal detail the cruelty of Hamas...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Approximately 800 digital recordings and transcripts of Nazi criminals from after World War II were revealed on Saturday, including dramatic and disturbing testimonies that shed light on Nazi methods during the war and Holocaust and on their escape routes. Among the recordings, published on the Hoover Institution website, is one from SS officer Bruno Streckenbach (1902-1977), head of the Administration and Personnel Department of the Reich Security Main Office, in which he admits that Adolf Hitler gave explicit i...
(JNS) — Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas recently claimed that the First and Second Jewish temples were in Yemen, not Jerusalem, citing the Quran. Not only does all reputable archeological research locate the temples in Jerusalem, but the Quran does not assert that they were in Yemen. So much for Abbas’s “facts.” The Palestinian narrative claiming rights to “Palestine” is based almost entirely on deceitful attempts to nullify deep Jewish connections to the region. Lacking any evidence of Palestinian peoplehood earlier than the 20th ce...
(JNS) — In a ceremony underscoring the enduring friendship and growing cooperation between Israel and Germany, Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo Ron Huldai and Governing Mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner signed a new Twin Cities agreement on Monday. The deal marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations and took place in the presence of Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor. Speaking at the ceremony, Mayor Huldai emphasized the symbolic and practical significance of the renewed partnership between the two cities. “Here today in...
Plaque in memory of deported Jewish children damaged in Marseille By Yossi Lempkowicz (JNS) — A plaque commemorating Jewish children deported during World War II was vandalized in the southern French city of Marseille, La Provence reported. The incident occurred in the city’s 13th arrondissement, at the Château de la Verdière, from where several Jewish children were deported during the war. According to authorities, the suspect was arrested shortly after the act. City officials condemned the vandalism, calling it “intolerable.” In a statement p...
This is the final consideration, with conclusions presented. To avoid confusion, the term West Bank will be used here when referring to Judea and Samaria. Israel’s Obligation to a Two-State Solution Israel’s four most influential prime ministers were possessed of differing personalities, political philosophies, and security challenges. They were consistent in recognition of the Palestinian National Identity that required geographic commitment to self-governance and political consequence. However, any implementation must be subject to the sac...
(JNS) — A fourth round of talks between Tehran’s envoys and Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s lead negotiator, did not take place in Rome over the weekend as had been expected. Neither Tehran’s spokesmen nor the State Department gave a clear explanation for why, but I’ll venture a guess: Iran’s rulers want concessions in exchange for continuing to talk. They think Trump needs negotiations more than they do. Their assessment is based on years of palaver with presidents Obama and Biden. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei hopes that,...
(JNS) - At exactly 8 p.m. on April 29, a siren pierced the air across Israel. But this time, it was not a warning of incoming missiles. It marked the beginning of Yom Hazikaron, Israel's Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror. In cities and towns nationwide, the country and its people paused - hearts heavy with grief and pride - to remember those who gave their lives in defense of the State of Israel. The moment was most poignantly felt at Jerusalem's historic Ammunition...
(JNS) - Massive wildfires erupted on Wednesday morning in the Judean Hills region of central Israel, prompting evacuations and widespread emergency responses amid soaring temperatures and high winds. The most serious blaze began in the Eshtaol Forest near the communities of Mesilat Zion and Neve Shalom, both of which were evacuated as flames rapidly spread through the area. Fire and Rescue Services mobilized dozens of firefighting teams, aircraft and helicopters to contain the inferno, which...
The installation of the sculpture honoring the women of the Israel Defense Forces is now underway. The sculpture - depicting two female soldiers, one from 1948 and one from 2024 - is expected to be completed and delivered by late May, with a dedication ceremony to follow. Standing approximately 12 feet tall atop a hill, the tribute will occupy a prominent site in Petach Tikva, a city known as the "Mother of Settlements." Founded in the late 19th century as the first modern Jewish agricultural co...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that “there will be blows” in response to the Iranian-sponsored Houthi missile assault targeting Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on Sunday. “We are acting against them,” Netanyahu said of previous IDF military operations against the Houthis in Yemen. “We have acted in the past and we will act in the future. I cannot detail everything. A ballistic missile fired from Yemen struck near the Jewish state’s main international airport on Sunday morning, lightly to moderately wo...
May 11, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. — The second workshop in a four-part series titled Dismantling Hate: Tackling Antisemitism Together. Part 2, Combatting Stereotypes and Myths. This session will addres common sterotypes, misconceptions and myths about Jewish people and Judaism. Lef by Director of education Stephen Poynor. For more information and to register, visit hmrec.org. May 18, 1 p.m. — Summer Youth Series, Fighting Spirit: Krava Maga & Jewish History, Session 1, hosted by Shaan Saar Orlando, this series inspires young people to embrace value...
(JNS) — There will be no retreat from territory recaptured from Hamas in Gaza—not even as part of a hostage agreement, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday. “This is a dramatic decision: Once the operation begins, there will be no withdrawal from land we conquer—not for any deal,” Smotrich said at the B’Sheva Jerusalem Conference. “The only way to free the hostages is to defeat Hamas. Any retreat would only invite the next Oct. 7.” The minister spoke after a decision overnight by Israel’s Security Cabinet to significantly exp...
(JTA) — The Irish rap group Kneecap denounced Hamas and Hezbollah after Micheál Martin, the Irish prime minister, called on them to “urgently clarify” their stances. The group is from Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, and U.K. police have also announced that they are investigating the group. Martin’s call and the investigation come after the group ignited criticism and scrutiny with its anti-Israel performance at the U.S. festival Coachella earlier this month. Critics of the performance, which included a projecti...
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican, signed legislation on Monday to prohibit the state’s agencies from using the term “West Bank.” The bill, which passed in the Arkansas General Assembly earlier this month, is considered to be the first time that a U.S. state has required its documents to call the area that Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War by the biblical names of Judea and Samaria. “It is the intent of the General Assembly to: (1) Refer to the land controlled by Israel from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day...
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump was right to seek the removal of Harvard University’s tax-exempt status, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), chairwoman of House Republican Leadership and a Harvard alumna, told Maria Bartiromo of Fox News. “One hundred percent, President Trump did the right thing. This is an issue that I have been the leader on in the house, and it takes a strong president to deliver zero tolerance when it comes to antisemitism,” Stefanik told Fox News. “The reality is, if you look at the report that Harvard released from its task...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — The Tel Aviv District Court sentenced Moti Maman, 73, to 10 years in prison after convicting him of contact with a foreign agent and unlawful entry into an enemy state. Maman admitted that he had twice entered Iran, where he met with Iranian intelligence agents to discuss conducting terrorist activity in Israel. He also spoke with them about the prospect of carrying out assassinations of senior Israeli officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Israel Security A...
(JNS) — Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas claimed that in the Quran, the Jewish Temple is described as being in Yemen. “In the Noble Quran, and I believe that also in other divine books, it says that the [First and Second] Temples were in Yemen,” said Abbas on April 23 in a televised speech during the 32nd PLO Central Council meeting in Ramallah. He made the remarks in the context of his claim that Israeli authorities were targeting Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is built on the Temple Mount, where the Jewish Temple used to stand....
(JNS) — Sandra Hagee Parker, chairwoman of the Christians United for Israel Action Fund, called on April 28 to prevent U.S. taxpayer-funded contracts going to those supporting boycotts against Israel. “We are not here to try and change the hearts and minds of people who hate Israel,” Hagee Parker, the daughter of CUFI founder Pastor John Hagee, said at the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem. “What they are not entitled to do is weaponize taxpayer dollars. Nobody has a right to gain a government contract while hating on our closest...
(JTA) — Cleaning up beaches near Rio de Janeiro and learning about Jewish environmental values. Connecting with Jewish study abroad students in London. Discovering the richness and plurality of Jewish traditions at Israeli cultural centers from Haifa to Sderot. Exploring the intersection of art and Jewish identity in Berlin. And helping Jewish students rebuild, physically and emotionally, after bombings in war-torn Ukraine. What do these experiences have in common? They’re all possible bec...
(JTA) — As the Antisemitism Awareness Act heads to a Senate committee for a crucial vote, 10 progressive Jewish organizations have signed a letter opposing the legislation for representing an endorsement of the Trump administration’s “efforts to weaponize antisemitism.” “Voting in favor of this legislation in this current political climate would represent an endorsement of the Trump Administration’s escalating efforts to weaponize antisemitism as a pretext for undermining civil rights, deporting political dissidents, and attacking the fundame...
