Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — Family members of U.S. citizens whom Hamas terrorists kidnapped and took to Gaza on Oct. 7 held a “very productive meeting” at the White House on Tuesday with Vice President Kamala Harris, Rachel Goldberg-Polin said, per the pool report. “We are thinking of all 133 souls who are being held” in Gaza, added Goldberg-Polin, whose son is the American Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. (Hersh’s father Jonathan Polin also attended the meeting.) “We want results,” Goldberg-Polin said. Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of American Israeli hostage...
By Yaakov Lappin (JNS) — Hamas’s leadership in Rafah continues to cling to fanatical visions of eventual victory, six months into the war it launched with Israel, according to Israeli observers. “As long as they are not decisively defeated, they have a chance to stay alive in Gaza. Therefore, they positively view the outcomes of the war, or at least they have some kind of optimism,” said Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, former head of the Research and Assessment Division of Israel’s Military Intelligence and currently director of the Proje...
Some iPhone keyboards suggest Palestinian flag for ‘Jerusalem’ (JNS) — Typing “Jerusalem” on the current iPhone iOS 17.4.1 software in an emoji search returns a Palestinian flag icon if the phone is set to English (UK) but not when set to English (U.S.), JNS found on Wednesday. The same thing happens on some Google’s Android devices The Jewish Chronicle reported, citing a social media post by Rachel Riley, a British television presenter. “I’ve just upgraded my software to version iOS 17.4.1, and now, when I type the capital of Israel, Jerusal...
(JNS) — Esther Panitch was inspired when Renee Evans, of the World Jewish Congress, bought trees in Israel recently for Peach State legislators who voted in favor of a bill to codify into law the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism. Evans put Jewish National Fund tree certificates on the lawmakers’ desks. “I saw the certificate, and I was like, ‘Huh. This would be great if I could just name it in honor of a troll,’” Panitch, a Democrat who is the only Jewish state representative in Georgia, told...
(JTA) - The celebrity chef behind the nonprofit whose aid workers were killed in an IDF strike on Tuesday is appealing to Israel, and the Jewish people, to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. In an op-ed published simultaneously Wednesday in Yedioth Ahronoth, an Israeli newspaper, and The New York Times, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres laments the killings and names the seven workers who died. He also calls on Israel to open land routes to deliver aid to hungry Gazans and says his...
(JNS) - Israel will open a new land crossing to the Gaza Strip designed primarily to facilitate the entry of foreign aid, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday. Gallant told reporters that the new crossing point would be established in the northern part of the coastal enclave, between the Israeli village of Zikim and the Palestinian village of As-Siafa. According to the minister, the new crossing will reduce travel time for trucks to enter Gaza after picking up shipments at...
(JNS) — Washington has no evidence that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin testified during a Tuesday hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee about the 2025 defense budget. About a dozen and a half anti-Israel protesters, who disrupted the beginning of the nearly three-hour hearing, were removed from the room. “I want to address what the protesters raised earlier: Is Israel committing genocide in Gaza?” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) asked Austin. “We don’t have any evidence of genocide,” Au...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - President Joe Biden said the United States would continue to "impose costs" on Russia for its imprisonment of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested one year ago. The Journal marked the March 29 anniversary by leaving most of its front page empty below a headline reading, "HIS STORY SHOULD BE HERE." Every other article and headline on the front page involved Gershkovich. "Today we mark a painful anniversary: one year of American journalist Evan...
The White Rose Tribute event, to be held April 11 at the Orlando Museum of Art from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m., will honor Jonathan and Nancy Wolf with the Tess Wise White Rose Award. The evening will feature a commemorative program, culinary treats, local wines and an exclusive update on the new Holocaust Museum for Hope and Humanity. Jonathan and Nancy Wolf's dedication to diverse causes includes support for the Orlando Museum of Art, Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando, and the University of C...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Howard Kohr, the CEO who has led the powerhouse American Israel Public Affairs Committee since 1996, is set to retire by the end of this year. Under Kohr's leadership, AIPAC has traversed five presidencies and more than 10 Israeli elections. In that time, its budget and staff have enjoyed significant growth as it has become one of the best known and most powerful lobbies in Washington. During his tenure, the United States' military aid to Israel increased to $3.8 billion per...
The Rosen JCC offers events for the entire family. April 18th the Rosen JCC will host community bingo. This is open to the entire community. The doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the games start 6:30 p.m. Bring $20 to play for the night. There will be cash prizes and raffles. April 27th will be the monthly Saturday Night Out. Parents can plan a night out and children will have their own night of fun. Drop off is 6 p.m. and pick up is 11 p.m. This month’s theme is “An Evening of Magic.” Space is limited to register at www.rosenjcc.org/sno. April...
(Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security via JNS) — President Joe Biden’s Middle East strategy has been problematic since the Oct. 7 attack. The Hamas onslaught proved that Israel cannot contain its enemies Hamas, Hezbollah and above all, Iran, and can only fight to reduce their capabilities, while Biden has reiterated his policy of containment regarding Iran and its proxies. Iran was to be rewarded with the release of bank deposits the United States has frozen since the fall of the shah. Biden also sent his special negotiator to try to...
(JTA) — In the largest antigovernment demonstration since Oct. 7, thousands of protesters gathered in Jerusalem to call on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to step down and for Israel to reach a deal to free the hostages held in Gaza. And in a dramatic turn in Tel Aviv, the main organization lobbying on behalf of the families of Israeli hostages in Gaza said it would cease its Saturday night rallies in what has come to be known as Hostages Square and instead join in anti-government protests that have taken place in a dif...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — There has been no shortage of hints when it comes to the White House’s efforts to convey the message that Israel should refrain from taking action in Rafah, find a path to a ceasefire, and increase aid to Gaza. Vice President Kamala Harris turned this subtlety into explicit policy when she threatened Israel that there could be consequences to an operation in the city. On Monday, the rhetoric turned into action at the U.N. Israelis by and large will likely brush off the Security Council resolution as yet “another examp...
(JNS) — Israel’s National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir has accused U.S. President Joe Biden of siding with the enemies of the Jewish state. During an interview with The New York Times published on Tuesday, Ben-Gvir said, “Presently, Biden prefers the line of [Palestinian-American Democratic Representative from Michigan] Rashida Tlaib and [Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya] Sinwar to the line of [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir.” “I would have expected the president of the United States not to take their line, but rather to take o...
(JNS) — Hamas will not release any of the 134 hostages it holds until Israel ends the war, withdraws its troops, allows all Gazans to return to their homes and lifts the blockade on the coastal enclave, the terrorist group’s leader Khaled Mashaal said on Wednesday. Speaking at a women’s event in Jordan, Mashaal declared that the organization’s leadership is “waging a negotiating battle no less fierce” than the military conflict with the Israel Defense Forces, according to a readout of his remarks posted to Telegram by Hamas. “Inshallah...
LOS ANGELES (JTA) - Steven Spielberg warned that "the machinery of extremism is being used on college campuses" and lamented those killed in Israel and Gaza while being honored for his Holocaust remembrance work at the University of Southern California. The renowned Jewish filmmaker spoke at a ceremony Monday afternoon in which USC bestowed its prestigious University Medallion on the 56,000 Holocaust survivors who have provided testimony to the USC Shoah Foundation, which Spielberg founded...
(JNS) — Incoming Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa vowed on Tuesday to appoint a cabinet that can “gain both the trust of our people and the support of the international community.” In a vision statement seen by the Associated Press, Mustafa promises to reunify Gaza with Judea and Samaria and establish an “internationally managed trust fund” to rebuild the Strip after the Israel Defense Forces operation against the Hamas terrorist organization there ends. Mustafa claims Ramallah aims to enact wide-ranging administr...
(New York Jewish Week) – When event producer Erez Safar announced a Valentine’s Day comedy show to raise funds for survivors of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the flier included a date, time and photo of headliner Daniel Ryan Spaulding, the non-Jewish comic who has stood out since the attack for his pro-Israel activism. But fans hoping to attend the show wouldn’t be able to get there by looking at the poster. All it said was “Location upon RSVP.” Following a spike in antisemitic incidents in New York City and beyond following Oct. 7, Safar is...
By Luke Tress (New York Jewish Week) — On a cold night last week, Barbara Hoff, the owner of an antique store in the Catskills, heard from a friend in the local fire department that the Nevele Grand Hotel was burning. Hoff, who lives in the town of Cragsmoor on the Shawangunk Mountains, looked down into the valley below her home. She saw a smear of orange flames framed by the silhouettes of dark trees in the distance. Hoff, 70, remembers another era, decades ago, when the Nevele was a bustling summer retreat for a largely Jewish clientele. A...
By Etgar Lefkovits (JNS) — Most evangelical Christians around the world are being intimidated into silence by a vociferous “social justice” camp that is fanning a false narrative on Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and being presented by the global media, the head of a Jerusalem-based evangelical organization said this week ahead of Easter Sunday. Rev. Peter Fast’s remarks during the Christian Holy Week come as public opinion polls have shown a drop in support for Israel, including among you...
(JTA) – A school district in suburban Virginia is drawing backlash for announcing that middle school students could opt out of a talk by a Holocaust survivor on Monday. Critics of the school connected the announcement with widespread reports of spiking antisemitism in K-12 schools following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. But the school and the local Jewish Community Relations Council denied those claims, later announcing that the opt-out was specifically intended to help Jewish students. Fairfax County Public Schools, in a populous a...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A range of Jewish and pro-Israel figures, including Israel’s antisemitism envoy, accused Sen. Jeff Merkley of advancing a “blood libel” for linking Easter to what he called Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza. Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, had already marked Easter Sunday on X with a generic wish for a “blessed holiday.” He followed up with a post citing the holiday in his call to cut arms shipments to Israel and to pressure the country to facilitate the entry of more humanitarian assistance into Gaza. “On this Easter,...
(JNS) — Addressing video footage on social media purporting to show Palestinians being killed by Israeli bombs, Joe Rogan told the millions who listen to his podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” on Tuesday that Israel was committing genocide. “If you can’t talk about that, if you can’t say that’s real, then you’re saying that genocide is okay as long as we’re doing it,” he said. Then he brought the Holocaust into the discussion. “You’re saying that from the perspective of someone who literally went through the Holocaust or your people, your tr...
Ra’am Party head pushing US to recognize Palestinian state (JNS) — Mansour Abbas, chairman of Israel’s Ra’am Party, said in a recent interview that he has been advocating for the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state in meetings with U.S. government officials and others. “Every week I have two or three meetings with international officials, delegations, ambassadors and the like. And I say to them in a clear manner…It’s on you to take an immediate decision to recognize a Palestinian state,” Abbas said in an undated Arabic-language...
