Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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The Israeli American Council Central Florida, in collaboration with Shalom Orlando, is bringing The Anti-Zionism Escape Room to the Roth Family JCC, 851 N. Maitland Ave., on Feb. 4-5, 2025. This Escape Room is an immersive experience designed to address the challenges of anti-Zionism, inspired by the events of the past year and the rising protests on campuses and in public spaces. Through collaboration and critical thinking, participants will learn definitions and ways to identify anti-Zionism and develop strategies for addressing cases of...
The Jewish National Fund-USA Orlando Women for Israel is presenting "United With Purpose: Special In Uniform" on Feb. 6, from 6:45 p.m.-8:30 p.m. The location will be provided upon RSVP. Special in Uniform is a program in which the Israeli Army integrates young adults with disabilities into the IDF, and in turn, into society. Guest speaker Lt. Col. (Res.) Tiran Attia, Special In Uniform director, will discuss the program and its effectiveness in Israel. Omer Lahat, a young adult in the SIU...
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump revoked a host of what he called “harmful” executive orders and actions under former President Joe Biden, including Executive Order 14115 of Feb. 1, 2024, which sanctioned Jews living in Judea and Samaria accused of “undermining peace, security and stability in the West Bank.” “The previous administration has embedded deeply unpopular, inflationary, illegal and radical practices within every agency and office of the federal government,” Trump stated on Monday. “The injection of ‘diversity, equity and inclus...
(JTA) — President Donald Trump says he has asked Jordan to accept Palestinians from Gaza and plans to press Egypt to do the same. Trump said he spoke to Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Saturday, five days after being inaugurated for his second term and six days into a ceasefire that he pressed for in the Israel-Hamas war. “I said to him I’d love you to take on more because I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it’s a mess, it’s a real mess. I’d like him to take people,” Trump told reporters Saturday night aboard Air Force One followi...
(JNS) — Eight of the 33 hostages intended for release during the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal are dead, according to a list provided by Hamas. Israeli government spokesman David Mencer confirmed that the terrorist group stated the remaining 25 hostages are alive. The list was delivered to Israel overnight Sunday. After repeatedly violating the truce deal with Israel, Hamas released three additional captives on Thursday — civilian Arbel Yehud, IDF soldier Agam Berger and an unidentified man — the Prime Minister’s Office...
(JNS) — The Israeli passport is the 19th strongest worldwide, according to a global ranking released last week. Israeli passport holders can now enter 170 countries without a visa, according to The Henley Passport Index, which measures the number of visa-free destinations available to holders of a given passport. The Israeli passport increased in strength from last year, when it was ranked 21st. Singapore tops the ranking of nearly 200 passports included in the index, followed by Japan, Finland, France, Germany, South Korea and Spain. The U...
(JNS) — The three Israeli hostages who returned from captivity in Gaza Sunday recalled in testimonies how they helped each other survive for 471 days amid uncertainty and lacking medical care, Israel’s Channel 12 reported. In statements vetted by the military censor and approved by the hostages for publication, they recalled living in underground facilities with little medical attention, tremendous uncertainty and, at times, despair. Emily Damari, who has a leg injury and lost two fingers on her left hand during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attac...
The Jewish Pavilion Senior Services hosted a successful Sponsors Breakfast at Legacy Pointe recently, creating a welcoming space for board members, sponsors, and community leaders to connect over a shared commitment to supporting seniors in the Orlando area. The event was a unique opportunity for sponsors and board members to build lasting friendships while also engaging in meaningful business discussions that strengthen the organization's mission. The event highlighted the Jewish Pavilion Senio...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Emily Damari (28), Doron Steinbrecher (31) and Romi Gonen (24) have begun their journey back to life at Sheba Medical Center following 471 days in Hamas captivity. Medical teams, having spent months preparing for the hostages’ return, prioritized the family reunions while establishing the foundation for an intricate medical and psychological rehabilitation process. Following the hostages’ return, Hospital Director Dr. Yael Frankel Nir announced: “I am deeply moved to report that we have received the three hostages. Thei...
(JNS) — Harvard University has resolved two federal lawsuits alleging antisemitic discrimination on campus with the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education. As part of the agreement, Harvard will incorporate the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, and the contemporary examples appended to the definition, when evaluating whether alleged discrimination violates the university’s non-discrimination and anti-bullying policies. Harvard Unive...
(JNS) — The U.S. has provided Israel with a written guarantee that Jerusalem can resume its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip if negotiations for the second and third phases of the ceasefire agreement fail, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told JNS on Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden have provided Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an official missive confirming that “the State of Israel will be able to return to the war on day 43” if talks fail during the 42-day first phase of the a...
(JTA) — Police in Tennessee are investigating whether an antisemitic manifesto posted online was written by a teenager accused of carrying out a fatal school shooting in Nashville on Jan. 22. The alleged shooter at Antioch High School appears to have posted a livestream of the shooting as well as content on his social media accounts prior to the attack, in which one student was killed. The material was removed after its connection to the shooting became known. According to The Tennessean newspaper, the materials attributed to the shooter, i...
(JNS) — Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Sunday night welcomed the return of Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari from Hamas captivity. “We are happy and excited about your return and await the return of the remaining hostages—through the use of [military] force, cutting off fuel [to Gaza] and stopping the flow of humanitarian aid [to Hamas]—not through surrender,” tweeted Ben-Gvir. Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party formally resigned from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on Sunday morning, a da...
Sen. Cruz gives Trump drawings by children held hostage in Gaza By JNS Staff (JNS) — U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) said Sunday that he presented pictures drawn by Israeli children who were held hostage in Gaza to President-elect Donald Trump. “This week, I met with an Israeli hostage family who had been released from Gaza,” Cruz wrote on X. “The beautiful children drew pictures for President Trump, and they asked me to deliver them.” The Senator, who is a staunch defender of Israel and has emerged as a close ally of the president...
President Donald Trump said he is “not confident” that the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war will last, adding that the United States could help rebuild Gaza. Trump, sitting in the Oval Office, made the comments following his inauguration Monday. A reporter asked whether he was confident he could “keep the ceasefire in Gaza and conclude the three phases of the deal.” “I’m not confident,” Trump responded. “That’s not our war, it’s their war. I’m not confident.” Then, presumably referring to Hamas, he added, “But I think they’re very weaken...
(JNS) - Former hostage Emily Damari took to Instagram for the first time since being taken captive by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, thanking her family, friends and God for her release on Sunday. "I'm loving, loving, loving. Thanks be to God. Thanks to my family, to Oreli, to the best friends I have in this world. I have returned to life, my loved ones," she wrote on Monday, according to a screenshot shared in local media. "I have only managed to see just a tiny bit of everything, and you...
Their names, faces and stories have resonated around the world, on posters and in prayers, since they were taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023. Now, some of the 98 remaining hostages abducted that day, when Hamas invaded southern Israel, could soon be free. Under the terms of a ceasefire deal, 33 of the hostages would be released over six weeks, starting with three on the deal's first day: Emily Damari: The only British citizen to remain in Gaza, Damari, 28, was shot on Oct. 7; Romi Gonen: Taken...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — As Donald Trump reclaimed the White House, an extensive portfolio of international and domestic challenges awaits—with Israel’s security concerns commanding significant attention. Unlike his first term, Trump enters office on Jan. 20 following methodical preparation and with a clear grasp of both priorities and implementation strategies. The Iranian nuclear threat stands as the foremost security concern. Having withdrawn from the nuclear agreement in 2018 during his previous term, Trump demonstrates acute aware...
(JNS) — FireDome, a startup founded in Israel in 2024, is developing an AI-driven defense system to combat wildfires such as those currently ravaging the Los Angeles area. The system is inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense technology. The system utilizes eco-friendly fire retardants and AI technology to form protective barriers and extinguish spot fires caused by wind-blown embers. Initially designed to protect 100-acre areas, FireDome aims to expand its coverage to larger regions. Testing is set to begin in Israel in 2025, with U.S...
The International Holocaust Remembrance Day will be observed on Jan. 26, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., at The Roth Family JCC. The event is held yearly in remembrance of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on Jan. 27, 1945, and to commemorate those who lived through or were murdered during the Holocaust. State House Representative Anna Eskamani will speak at the event, as well as Irving Locker, a D-Day veteran and Jewish-American liberator. The event is free and open to the public. Register at www.holocaustedu.org....
(JNS) — At a confirmation hearing, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said that as state secretary he’d belong to “perhaps the most pro-Israel administration in American history,” pushing Israeli-Saudi normalization and lifting sanctions from Jews in Judea and Samaria, among other actions. The emerging ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, Rubio said, was “a foundation to build upon” in working toward peace between Israel and Palestinians and normalization of Israeli-Saudi ties as an extension of the Abraham Accords. “We’re still going to have so...
By JNS Staff (JNS) — A group of conservative Jewish and Christian leaders has launched a public petition urging The Jerusalem Post to stop using the term West Bank in reporting on Israel’s biblical heartland and to call it by its historic name of Judea and Samaria. “As Israel’s oldest English newspaper when it was called ‘The Palestine Post,’ The Jerusalem Post holds significant influence in shaping public opinion, influencing policies and defining global narratives,” the petition addressed to Eli Azur, the media outlet’s owner, and Zvik...
In a disturbing revelation, Israeli media reported that Hamas forced three recently released hostages faroma Gaza — Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher—to participate in a staged propaganda ceremony before their release. The hostages were handed “gift bags” by their captors, an act that highlights the psychological manipulation employed by the terror group. The gift bags, reportedly handed to the hostages just before they were transferred to the Red Cross, included unsettling items: a photo of Gaza, photographs of the hostage...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Following security warnings about escalation in Judea and Samaria due to the release of hundreds of terrorists into the area, the Security Cabinet is expected to approve on Friday a comprehensive decision to address this front. This is one of the demands that Finance Minister and Religious Zionism Party chairman Bezalel Smotrich presented in his discussions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, prompted by numerous warnings about increased terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria following the ceasefire deal with H...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) - Israel's Health Ministry has formulated a comprehensive protocol for treating hostages, due soon to be released from Hamas captivity in Gaza, based on lessons learned from the 2023 exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian terrorists. The protocol includes detailed guidelines for medical examinations, mental health care, privacy protection and long-term support for returnees and their families, emphasizing personalized care and respect for dignity. Key guidelines...
