Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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The first Party for the Pavilion, hosted at One Senior Place, was a huge success. Jason Mendelsohn, board member and long-time Jewish Pavilion Senior Services supporter, chaired the event. Guests enjoyed food, drinks, liquor tastings, music, and schmoozing. Attendees also had the opportunity to honor a special senior in their lives with a tribute on the scroll of honor....
(JNS) — According to Lara Burns, a former FBI agent who spent years tracking Hamas in the United States, the terror organization has for decades had a detailed strategy for both fundraising and winning the propaganda war, especially on American campuses. One of the targets of the recent Israeli strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar, which apparently failed, was Musa Abu Marzouk, who served as the first chairman of the Hamas political bureau from 1992 to 1996 and then as deputy chairman from 1996 until 2013, when he was succeeded by Ismail H...
(JNS)— Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday invoked the memory of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States as he defended Israel’s strike in Qatar targeting Hamas leaders behind the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. “We remember September 11. On that day, Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery on American soil since the founding of the United States,” Netanyahu said. “We also have a September 11. We remember October 7. On that day, Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery against the Jewish people since the...
(JNS) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, wrote in The New York Times on Sunday that she is endorsing Zohran Mamdani, a state representative with a long history of denouncing Israel, for New York City mayor, giving the Democratic socialist his most high-profile backing to date. “I didn’t leave my conversations with Mr. Mamdani aligned with him on every issue,” she wrote. “But I am confident that he has the courage, urgency and optimism New York City needs to lead it through the challenges of this moment.” Mamdani beat Andrew Cuomo, a fo...
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters five times on Sunday aboard Air Force One that Qatar, which has long housed Hamas leaders, is a “great ally.” Asked if he had a message for the prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who is also the state’s foreign affairs minister, Trump said, “look, we’re with them. They’ve been a great ally.” “A lot of people don’t understand about Qatar. Qatar has been a great ally. They also lead a very difficult life, because they’re right in the middle of everything,” Trump...
By Jonathan D. Salant (JNS) — American policy towards Israel is increasingly viewed along party lines, and more Americans now say that Washington is providing too much support for the Jewish state as its war with Hamas continues, according to a survey released on Thursday. The findings revealed a “strong and growing partisan factor in American views of U.S. support for Israel in its war against Hamas,” according to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Lester Crown Center on U.S. Foreign Policy. In the survey, 37 percent of Americans said...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) - Within six weeks, eight emergency distribution centers will operate in the Gaza Strip to provide food for the population expected to gather in the southern Strip as part of "Operation Gideon's Chariots II," during which Israel intends to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Palestinians currently in Gaza City, Israel Hayom has learned. Currently, three distribution points operate in the Gaza Strip (following the closure of one): in Gaza City's Saudi neighborhood; near the...
(JNS) - The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters on Wednesday highlighted three birthdays of Israelis still being held captive in Gaza after being abducted during the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman, kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, marked their 28th birthday. Their family lamented a "second birthday in hell" in a message shared by the Forum. "Our beloved Gali and Ziv, how we feared this day would come-a second birthday in...
(JNS) — A memorial mural featuring angel wings in a prominent city square in Israel. A sand sculpture on the Tel Aviv beach. An Israeli tank shell inscribed with a commemorative message. Spontaneous Israeli public tributes that have poured in since last week’s assassination in Utah of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk, 31, who was admired in Israel for his staunch support of the Jewish state and had a large following across the Atlantic. “If the world is divided into good and evil, the...
Netanyahu defends strike on Hamas terrorists in Qatar Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night defended Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, arguing that the terror group remains the main obstacle to ending the conflict. “The Hamas terrorist chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza. They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war,” said Netanyahu. “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war,” he added. On Wednesda...
(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces launched the main phase of its ground operation into Gaza City in recent hours, a military official stated on Tuesday, initiating the final series of battles of the war to dismantle Hamas’s last remaining military and governing stronghold. The start of the offensive was reportedly marked by one of the most intense and widespread aerial and ground bombardments in recent months, with massive “belts of fire” reported across multiple neighborhoods throughout Gaza City, including Sabra, Daraj, Sheikh Radwan,...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed to Jerusalem what his office described as the largest-ever bipartisan delegation of American lawmakers to ever visit the Jewish state. “We value and cherish your support,” Netanyahu told the delegation of some 250 U.S. state legislators gathered at the Foreign Ministry, noting that there was an “active effort” ongoing to erode the ties between the two countries. These efforts are “orchestrated by the same forces that supported Iran,” he continued, accusing China and Qatar of spearheadi...
(JNS) — Israeli ministers on Saturday night called on the government to annex Judea and Samaria, after the U.N. General Assembly voted to adopt the so-called New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine, which outlines the implementation of a two-state solution and the path towards recognition of a Palestinian state. “The fact that a diplomatic attack on Israel is met with Israeli silence—is unacceptable and cannot continue,” said Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is also a minister in the Defense...
Behind Kibbutz Nir Oz, on a small rise overlooking the fields toward Gaza, stands a new memorial. At 14 feet tall, the Lion of Judah sits with its mouth agape, teeth bared, eyes dark with anger and pain. One massive paw rests upon a dedicatory stanchion. This Lion is the work of Jerusalem artist Sam Philipe, a fifth-generation Jewish sculptor. The project was conceived and funded by the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation in collaboration with the Nir Oz community. Philipe and I...
(JNS) - "We said there will be no Palestinian state - indeed there will be no Palestinian state. This place is ours," declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to rousing applause at the festive signing of an "umbrella agreement" between the government and Ma'ale Adumim at the Judean city's Cultural Center on Thursday evening. The umbrella agreement commits the government to finance the construction of two new neighborhoods and the expansion of a third in a city that hasn't seen a new n...
On Thursday, Sept. 11, members of the Mainland Chamber of Commerce came together for a special Coffee Connections Breakfast with a meaningful twist. Hosted by Jewish Pavilion Senior Services, this Pre-Rosh Hashanah celebration blended networking, tradition, and homemade food to create a morning that was as heartwarming as it was delicious. Held at New Hope for Kids in Maitland, the event welcomed close to 50 attendees for an engaging cultural experience just days ahead of the Jewish New Year,...
The Jewish Chamber of Commerce networking breakfasts will be held from 8:30-9:30 a.m. on Sept. 16, Oct. 21, Nov. 18, Dec. 16, Jan. 20, Feb. 17, March 17, April 21, and May 19. The cost is $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers. The location will be provided upon RSVP to The Jewish Chamber will hold (kosher) Lunch & Learn events at the Roth Family JCC from noon – 1:30 p.m. These luncheons will host Amy Kimlat with Business Development of See Magic Live on Nov. 5, a Chanukah party featuring music with Michael Kramer on Dec. 3, and Wayne Green, C...
(JNS) — Ahead of the High Holidays, which start with the Jewish New Year at sundown on Sept. 22, Israel’s National Security Council issued a travel warning to the public on Sunday about possible threats so that it could take preventive measures. The warning, issued through the Prime Minister’s Office, was not a new travel alert but an up-to-date review of the main trends in terrorist activity around the world, the NSC said. “The recent period has been characterized by continued efforts to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli and Jewish...
(JNS) — Elizabeth Tsurkov landed in Israel Wednesday, a day after the Israeli-born graduate student was released from two years of captivity in Iraq. “The head of the Mossad thanks his Cypriot counterpart for the assistance in facilitating Elizabeth’s humanitarian transfer through Cyprus to Israel. The cooperation between the two countries once again proves itself,” read a joint statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that Tsurkov, 38, an Isra...
(JNS) — The United States Congress will hold a discussion next month on the application of Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria, according to Yesha Council Chairman Yisrael Ganz. “We are at a rare moment in time with a friendly and supportive U.S. administration. This is the time to move forward with a historic step that will affect the security of the entire State of Israel,” said Ganz, who is currently in the U.S. promoting the sovereignty plan. Referring to last week’s deadly terror attack in Jerusalem, which left six people dead—in...
By JNS Staff (JNS) — Israel’s Defense Ministry has agreed to transfer the cannon that shelled the Altalena, the Irgun cargo ship that the newly created Israel Defense Forces shelled off the Tel Aviv beach in 1948, to the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, Hebrew media reported on Wednesday. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz authorized the transfer after Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu requested that the “holy cannon” be relocated from the IDF’s Glilot military base in Ramat Hasharon to Begin’s national memorial in Jerusalem. The weapon was...
(JNS) - "Seeing so many people express joy over Charlie Kirk's murder shows how deeply we are failing as a society to protect free speech and the right to hold an opinion," pro-Israel advocate and influencer Noa Cochva, told JNS this week. Cochva, a model, who represented Israel at Miss Universe in 2021, said the assassination of U.S. conservative media personality Kirk highlights the rise of violence in society, mentioning the death threats she herself received for expressing her views. "I've...
‘700 days in hell,’ Israeli consulate campaign in Times Square says (JNS) — A weeklong Israeli Consulate in New York digital billboard campaign displayed in Times Square tells of “700 days of hell” for hostages whom Hamas has held hostage in Gaza since Oct. 7. “This attack, that was perpetrated by Hamas, was one of the most heinous acts of evil in human history since the Holocaust,” stated Ofir Akunis, consul general of Israel in New York. “No human being with a conscience can remain unmoved in the face of such atrocities that took place that...
(JNS)— It’s literally a rite of passage, or at least, a rite. For the past five years, Chabad of Bedford in Bedford Corners, N.Y., has held Tashlich in Leonard Park in the nearby village of Mount Kisco, N.Y. This year, however, the Jewish center, which has been directed by Rabbi Arik and Sara Wolf for 22 years—they arrived in 2003—has been denied a permit to use the public property for the Rosh Hashanah tradition, scheduled for Sept. 23. The Tashlich ceremony is one where Jews gather to “cast off” their sins, typically throwing pieces of b...
