Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 537 - 561 of 10919
(JNS) — The Oct. 7, 2023, attacks marked the end of the two-state solution, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana told visiting European Parliament President Roberta Metsola in Jerusalem on Thursday. Ohana, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party and ruling coalition, blamed Gaza’s education system for inciting violence and suggested that only the approach proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump offers a fresh perspective. The American president’s plan includes the resettlement of Gazans to other countries while the war-torn coastal...
Shalom Orlando received a grant for $17,400 at the Orange County ACT Awards. Shalom Orlando was one of five new recipients this year. The money will be used for cultural arts programming in the upcoming year. Shown here are (l-r) Ashley Samuels, Jason Venning, Rachel Greenspan, Samantha Taylor, and Stan Rubins....
(Israel Hayom via JNS) - Negotiations on the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement and of hostage deal began in Washington with a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. As stipulated in the initial agreement, talks on the second phase were set to begin on the 16th day of the deal and it now appears that this is about far more than just another stage in a temporary agreement. Israel seems to be on the path to...
At the recent Jewish Chamber Breakfast on Feb. 6, a brief news clip was shown highlighting the opportunities available to Jewish business owners, including newly available minority grants. The news clip explained that the U.S. Department of Commerce has now officially recognized Jewish-owned businesses as minority business enterprises. This designation will enable Jewish entrepreneurs access to federal programs, contracts, loans and grants that previously were not available to them. In the past, Jewish businesses were not eligible for minority...
IDF unveils portable Torah scrolls for field conditions (JNS) - Israel's Military Rabbinate this week unveiled a portable Holy Ark containing a Torah scroll that army rabbis designed to be worn like a backpack and which 0can be converted into a small podium, or bimah, for reading scripture. The rabbinate developed the gadget for use in field and combat conditions in connection with the outbreak of war on Oct. 7, 2023, the news site Srugim reported on Sunday. "When it comes to transporting a...
On the morning of Feb. 6, the Jewish Chamber of Commerce hosted a free breakfast at One Senior Place. The event, led by Board President Harrison Shames, who also serves as the executive director of the Jewish National Fund, celebrated the holiday of Tu B'Shevat, a time for reflection on nature and growth. Guests were treated to a delicious breakfast prepared by Chris Shepherd, manager of One Senior Place. The spread included fresh fruit, bagels with cream cheese, muffins, and yogurt. A special...
Raise Your Glass 2025 will take place on Sunday, April 6 from 5 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz of Orlando located at 810 N. Orlando Ave., Maitland. This annually occurring event raises money in a unique way to help fight all those touched by cancer. Jason Mendelsohn said he was thrilled that Advent Health is once again their presenting sponsor. “Their cancer care is saving lives and truly impacting families,” Mendelsohn said. Purchase tickets and place names on the Mercedes-Benz car wrap to honor those touched by any type of cancer by going...
Sunday, Feb. 16 — Film Screening of “Sophie Scholl: The Final Days,” 2 p.m. at the Winter Park Library, 1052 West Morse Blvd. The film is a dramatization of the last six days of Sophie Scholl, one of the most famous members of the German WWII anti-Nazi resistance movement, The White Rose. RSVP at hmrec.org. Thursday, Feb. 20 — Orlando Shakes! presents “Cabaret” at 6:30 p.m. The performance is an exclusive fundraising performance benefiting the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida. Tickets include a pre-show reception w...
Five women, Debby Gendzier, Laurie Shader Smith, Danielle Krise, Michele Fischer and Aliza Nabatian, will be honored at Shalom Orlando’s Choices 2025. This year, Barbara Weinreich will be presented with a special Lifetime of Service Award in recognized of her extraordinary contributions and unwavering dedication to the Jewish community. The annual event will be held at Congregation Ohev Shalom, beginning at 5:30 p.m. with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, followed by dinner, catered by Crafted Gourmet, and the program at 7 p.m. Register by Feb...
(JTA) — Reactions from partisan American Jewish groups to President Donald Trump’s proposals for Gaza — that “all” Palestinians leave and the United States “take over” the territory — began flowing in just as soon as their leaders picked their jaws up off the floor on Tuesday night. The proposals — the latter of which was reportedly secret to even many in the Trump administration before the president aired it at a White House press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — elicited sharp revulsion from liberal Jewish grou...
(JNS) — U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff backed U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza, arguing that a better life is not necessarily tied to a given piece of land. In an interview with Fox News, Witkoff emphasized that peace means improving financial conditions and opportunities. “Peace in the region means a better life for the Palestinians. A better life is not necessarily tied to the physical space that you are in today,” he said. “A better life is about better opportunity, better financial condition...
(JNS) — Over the past month, Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) agents, working alongside the Israel Defense Forces, have thwarted 90 major terrorist attacks, including 75 in Samaria, as security sources warn that Iran is fueling violence in Judea and Samaria. A security official identified Tehran as a central force escalating tensions by supplying weapons and financial aid to terrorist networks, significantly increasing the security threat, Channel 12 News reported on Wednesday. The IDF and Shin Bet have expanded “Operation Iron Wall,” now i...
(JNS) — Several American Jewish groups congratulated U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance on his inauguration on Monday and stated that they look forward to working with him on a variety of issues, including fighting Jew-hatred. B’nai B’rith International cited collaborating on “combating antisemitism, safeguarding Jewish communities, ensuring Israel’s security, strengthening the vital U.S.-Israel alliance and other key policy priorities.” The American Jewish Committee mentioned working together “to strengthen Is...
(JNS) — Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that he had instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare a plan to facilitate the voluntary departure of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. The statement comes in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal this week that Gaza’s population be relocated to Egypt, Jordan and additional countries. “The plan will include exit options at land crossings as well as special arrangements for exit by sea and air,” said Katz. “I welcome U.S. President Donald Trump’s bold plan. The res...
(JTA) - JERUSALEM - In the haredi Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood of Geula, a newly renamed pizzeria advertised a special just for Monday: Customers who bought two slices would get a free order of fries. The timing wasn't random. The shop's new name is Pizza Trump, and the special was pegged to the inauguration of its namesake, who returned to the U.S. presidency on the day the deal was offered. The restaurant's slogan: "Make pizza great again." Did the shtick bring in more customers? "Maybe," s...
(JNS) — “I refuse to think about the Palestinian terrorist prisoner release,” said O. as she lifted weights at the Karnei Shomron gym. “It’s more stress than I can handle. I don’t carry a gun, my husband does. But I refuse to let these terrorists change my routine in any way. They don’t get to win!” While it was business as usual for O., other area residents are more concerned. Some are even distraught. According to the Israeli Justice Ministry, Jerusalem will release 1,904 Palestinian terrorists in the first stage of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire...
(JNS) — It will take at least a decade to rebuild Gaza, Mike Waltz, the U.S. national security adviser, told reporters on Feb. 4, per the White House pool report. Asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for Jordan and Egypt to accept Palestinian to “clean out” Gaza—a move that both countries have rejected—Waltz told reporters that “President Trump is looking at this from a humanitarian standpoint.” “You have these people that are sitting with literally thousands of unexploded ordinance and piles of rubble,” he said. “At some point, we...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — American students volunteering in Israel launched an initiative to show appreciation to wives of IDF reservists serving in Gaza and Lebanon. The project is a collaboration between the IS-Resilient organization and the OU-JLIC (Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus) student association. The volunteers, mostly university students, visited the homes of soldiers from reserve units stationed on the Gaza and Lebanon fronts. With the wives managing their households alone, the students provided them with much-needed support b...
(JNS)- The way Dani Dayan figures it, many people will walk along 67th Street in Manhattan, between Second and Third Avenues, and notice the new sign for "Yad Vashem Way" and have no idea what the first two words mean. "Some of them, not all of them, but some of them will Google 'Yad Vashem' and learn about the Shoah," Dayan, chairman of Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, told JNS at the street naming on Thursday. "Yad Vashem is the vehicle, not the purpose," he sai...
(JNS) — Below is the full text of the statement delivered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alongside U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb. 4, 2025: Thank you, Mr. President. I’m honored that you invited me to be the first foreign leader to visit the White House in your second term. This is a testament to your friendship and support for the Jewish state and the Jewish people. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: You are the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House. That’s why the people of...
(JNS) — Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, stated several times during the press briefing on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump has not committed to deploying American soldiers to Gaza. Trump announced on Feb. 6 that the United States would “take over,” “own” and “be responsible for” the reconstruction of Gaza. During the explosive press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said that the United States would redevelop Gaza’s waterfront as “the riviera of the Middle East.” He also said that...
(JNS) — About 65 percent of the structures in the Gaza Strip were destroyed during the year-long Israel-Hamas war, littering the enclave with hundreds of millions of tons of scattered debris, Hebrew media reported on Tuesday. Experts estimate reconstruction would take at least 10 years and cost tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars, according to Israel’s Channel 12 News. The outlet commissioned Adi Ben-Nun, a Geographic Information System specialist and technical manager of the GIS center at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, to ana...
Thai hostages reunite with families in Israel By JNS Staff (JNS) — Five Thai nationals recently freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza were reunited with their families on Tuesday at Shamir Medical Center in Be’er Ya’akov, Israel. Relatives of four of the former captives traveled from Thailand to meet their loved ones and will accompany them home. Their visit was coordinated by Israel’s Foreign Ministry, the National Insurance Institute, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Israel Defense Forces and the Thai Embassy. The freed hostages...
(JNS) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday described Hamas as an “evil” and “monstrous” organization that must be wiped out. During an interview on conservative talk radio channel SiriusXM Patriot, the top American diplomat condemned the terrorist group for its treatment of hostages. “This is an evil organization. Hamas is evil. It’s pure evil. These are monsters. These are savages. That’s a group that needs to be eradicated,” he said. He warned that its continued dominance in Gaza would prevent regional stability in the Middle Eas...
(JTA) — A performer unfurled a banner showing the Sudanese and Palestinian flags and the words “Sudan” and “Gaza” during Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Sunday. The performer, who was not immediately identified, was detained on the field and will be barred from all NFL stadiums for the rest of his life, the NFL said in a statement. The football organization and Roc Nation, which produced the halftime show, said the flag had not been part of any plan or rehearsal. “The individual hid the item on his possessio...
