Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1428 - 1452 of 10919
(Israel Hayom via JNS) - A rare and exciting archaeological find has been unearthed in Jerusalem, providing an extraordinary glimpse into the ancient past. During excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Western Wall Plaza, a small-stamped clay seal was discovered dating back to the First Temple period around 2,700 years ago. The clay seal contains ancient Hebrew writing indicating it belonged to the "Governor of the City" of Jerusalem, the highest municipal position...
(ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla) - One of Israel's most distinguished statesmen, Ambassador Michael Oren, a diplomat who worked at the highest levels of the Israeli government, was the featured speaker at Jewish National Fund-USA's second annual Stand with Israel Legacy Luncheon in Altamonte Springs on Feb. 12, 2024. The "thank you" event for local partners (donors) who are members of the organization's Legacy Society was attended by over 100 philanthropists. The solidarity portions of the afternoon inc...
Local screenwriter and novelist Katherine MK Mitchell, a former talent agent and story-analyst in the Hollywood film industry, will lead a workshop titled “Screenwriting 101,” at the Maitland Library auditorium on March 23 from 10:30 a.m. – noon. The class will include basic information on screenwriting vs. narrative and the comparisons of writing requirements between the forms; challenging writers’ block; anecdotes; adaptations; specialty writers, infomercials; and suggested educational reading materials. The Maitland Library is located...
(JTA) — Vice President Kamala Harris called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and placed most of the onus on Israel for a shortfall in humanitarian aid entering the enclave. The call for a cessation of fighting was not actually a change in the U.S. position on the war. In her speech, at a civil rights-focused event on Sunday in Birmingham, Alabama, Harris made clear that she was not referring to a permanent ceasefire, which progressive activists have advocated for months. Rather, she was voicing support for the current Israeli-backed propo...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday night hit back at U.S. President Joe Biden for claiming that the Jewish state’s “incredibly conservative government” risked losing it international support. “Since the start of the war, I have been leading a diplomatic campaign to block pressure designed to end the war prematurely and to secure strong support for Israel,” said Netanyahu in a video message. “We have had considerable success. Today, a Harvard-Harris poll was published which shows that 82 percent of the American publ...
By (JNS) — Iran-backed terror groups are plotting to turn the Islamic holy month of Ramadan into the “second phase of Oct. 7” and set the Middle East on fire, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant charged on Tuesday. “The main goal of Hamas is to take Ramadan, with an emphasis on the Temple Mount and Jerusalem, and turn it into the second phase of their plan that began on Oct. 7. This is the main goal of Hamas, and it is being amplified by Iran and Hezbollah,” Gallant said following a situational assessment at the Israel Defense Forces’ C...
(JNS) — The United States on Feb.21 called on the International Court of Justice not to issue an advisory opinion that Israel must immediately withdraw from Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem. Instead, Richard Visek, acting legal adviser at the U.S. State Department, argued on day three of public hearings at The Hague on Israel’s “ongoing occupation” that the conflict with the Palestinians should be resolved within “the established framework,” citing United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. He also emphasized Israel’s “v...
(JNS) — Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday received an award from the Israel Heritage Foundation in appreciation of his efforts to forge normalization agreements between the Jewish state and four Arab nations under the guise of the Abraham Accords. The award, a menorah, was presented to the former president at Mar-a-Lago by IHF Executive Director Rabbi David Katz, Executive Vice President Joseph Frager, Executive President Stephen Soloway, Executive Chairman Sam Nahmias, Lewis Topper and Harley Lippman. “This menorah, which represents...
(JNS) - "I can't allow myself to get caught in the emotional rollercoaster around hostage negotiations," said Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Sagui, 35, was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7. "It is hard if not impossible to survive that when your loved one is being held captive by a terror organization," he told JNS. On Oct. 7, some 200 terrorists stormed Kibbutz Nir-Oz, murdering 40 residents and abducting 80 more. "I have been worried for Sagui's life since then. Every day is another day that the...
(JNS) — The Biden administration is privately pressing several United Nations agencies to take over the responsibilities of the beleaguered UNRWA but is being rebuffed by U.N. chief António Guterres, according to a report by Devex. Anticipating that the U.S. Congress will pull funding for UNRWA, the Palestinian-only refugee and social services agency with extensive ties to Hamas, Washington has approached the heads of the World Food Programme, UNICEF and other U.N. relief agencies, requesting they begin assuming the work traditionally ca...
WASHINGTON, D.C. (JTA) — For months, President Joe Biden has asked for — and Congress has debated — sending wartime foreign aid to Israel as it battles Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The bill currently on the table, passed in a bipartisan vote by the Senate last week, would see some $14 billion go to Israel as part of a $95 billion foreign aid bill. Biden is now pushing the Republican-led House to take up the bill. The majority of the bill’s funds would aid Ukraine in its war against Russia, and a smaller portion is earmarked to help Taiwan deter C...
By (New York Jewish Week) — The philanthropic organization Broadway Cares said it would allocate funds to Israeli civilians in need after complaints from a rabbi and pro-Israel group about the theater charity’s contributions to Gaza relief efforts. In a statement to the New York Jewish Week, the nonprofit also acknowledged that it had “created confusion among our valued supporters.” The group vowed to provide more information about where it was allocating the money it raised. “Transparency is of the utmost importance to us,” read the stateme...
(JNS) — Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, the “military wing” of Hamas, fired 40 Grad rockets in two barrages at army bases near Kiryat Shmona on Wednesday morning. Only 10 crossed the border and several were intercepted, according to the Israel Defense Forces. A building in Kiryat Shmona was hit, causing damage but no injuries according to police. The Hamas terror group says its Lebanon branch fired a barrage rockets at the Kiryat Shmona area this morning. Police said they were dealing with rocket debris at several sites in the Kiryat Shmona area. “Prop...
(JNS) — Israeli security forces killed three Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists, including a commander, during overnight operations in Judea and Samaria early Tuesday, according to Israeli media reports. The three terrorists were eliminated in Tubas in northern Samaria and the nearby al-Fari’ah camp, located east of Nablus (Shechem), according to the reports, which cited the P.A.’s official Wafa news agency. One of the terrorists, Ahmed Daraghmeh, 26, was reportedly a commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad-affiliated Tubas Batta...
Israeli researchers take step toward cure for Huntington’s disease (JNS) — A new study carried out by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot has identified two molecules capable of penetrating the blood-brain barrier and reducing the levels of a defective protein that causes Huntington’s disease, an incurable neurodegenerative disorder. The research not only slowed the progress of the disease in mouse models but even reversed some symptoms, the Institute said. The signs and symptoms of Huntington’s disease—slight involuntary movements...
(JNS) — The Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah fired a “significant” rocket barrage at northern Israel on Tuesday morning. The Iranian proxy said the attack was a response to an Israeli strike the previous day in the Beqaa Valley which killed a senior Hezbollah commander. According to Hezbollah, the barrage targeted the Israeli Air Force’s air control base on Mount Meron, which has been attacked multiple times since Hezbollah joined the war in support of Hamas a day after the Oct. 7 mass invasion of southern Israel. The IDF later in the morning...
(JNS) - A group of more than 20 parliamentarians from around the world will gather in Jerusalem this weekend, in the largest political solidarity mission to Israel since the Oct. 7 massacre. The Christian lawmakers will add their voices to calls to dismantle UNRWA over its ties to Hamas terrorism and speak out against Iran as the chief origin of regional terrorism, and are expected to voice opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state. The three-day Israel Allies Foundation Chairman's...
(JTA) – More than a third of Americans would be reluctant to vote for a pro-Israel politician. One fifth are uncomfortable buying products from Israel. More than 40 percent at least somewhat agreed that Israel intends to cause as much Palestinian suffering as possible. But nearly all U.S. adults believe Jews have the right to an independent country. Those are some of the results of a survey published Thursday by the Anti-Defamation League, measuring antisemitism and anti-Israel views across the United States. The survey found that a...
(JNS) — While a senior U.N. aid official said on Tuesday that a quarter of the Gazan population is one step away from famine, Israel and the United States laid blame at the feet of the United Nations and Hamas, respectively. The U.N. Security Council met on Tuesday afternoon to discuss food insecurity in Gaza. Much of the enclave’s agricultural and food production infrastructure has been severely impacted by the war between Israel and Hamas. But Robert Wood, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters that ultimately, Ham...
(JNS) - The head of a prominent group of American Christian media broadcasters urged members in the association to cease using the term "West Bank" when reporting about Israel's biblical heartland. The announcement by the National Religious Broadcasters during their annual Christian Media Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, comes amid an intense media war of narratives in reporting about Israel as the war against Hamas in Gaza rages for a fifth month. "NRB opposes the use of the erroneous term...
(Ettinger Report via JNS) - FBI Director Christopher A. Wray visited Israel on Feb. 14, 2024, meeting with leaders of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and Israel Police. The goal of the visit was to benefit from Israel's unique urban and tunnel warfare experience against Islamic terrorists, who are advancing the vision of Iran's ayatollahs and the Muslim Brotherhood. Director Wray considers Israel's to be the most effective battle-tested laboratory for the U.S. armed forces, law enforcement...
(JNS) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to not cave to international pressure demanding a ceasefire in the war against Hamas. "There is considerable pressure on Israel at home and abroad to stop the war before we achieve all of its goals, including a deal at any price to free the hostages," said Netanyahu during a visit to the IDF Sky Rider Unit at the Zikim Base along the border with the Gaza Strip. "We very much want to achieve another release and we are prepared to go far but...
(JNS) — Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh submitted the collective resignation of his entire government on Monday, the P.A.’s official Wafa news agency reported, amid talk of a unity deal with the Hamas terrorist organization. During a Cabinet meeting in Ramallah, Shtayyeh explained that “this decision comes in light of the political, security and economic developments related to the aggression against Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and the unprecedented escalation in the West Bank, including the city of Jerus...
Jewish joy is blooming at Temple Israel, and so are the vegetables in the Gan Chesed: Garden of Kindness. Officially installed in October of last year through the generosity of the Magness Family Children's Play Area Fund and the hard work of the garden committee led by Temple Israel member Lauren Brown, the community garden has been growing beautiful winter produce. Some of that produce has even been served at TI Supper Club Shabbat dinners. February's Supper Club included baba ganoush made...
On Feb. 15, the isles of Dillard's Altamonte Mall were transformed into a runway of compassion and style as over 200 attendees gathered for the annual Jewish Pavilion Fashion Show. This glittering event served a dual purpose: to raise funds for the Jewish Pavilion and to pay homage to Lisa Eichenblatt, an esteemed board member, sponsor, realtor specializing in seniors, and community leader. With the support of sponsors from the Jewish Pavilion, attendees were treated to a breakfast buffet....
