Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 701 - 725 of 10763
(JTA) — WASHINGTON — The last time President Joe Biden helped Israel repel an Iranian missile onslaught, he advised Benjamin Netanyahu against retaliation, telling the prime minister to “take the win.” Now, after another barrage of missiles from Iran, things have changed: He’s giving Israel a green light — albeit with qualifications — to strike back. Last week, the United States assisted Israel in repelling nearly 200 ballistic missiles Iran launched at the country, similar to what had occurred in April. The attack came after Israel killed...
(JTA) — American troops will be stationed in Israel for the first time since Oct. 7, 2023, as the country prepares for ongoing conflict with Iran. The announcement that U.S. personnel would arrive came on the same day that a Hezbollah drone strike on a military base in Israel killed four soldiers and injured nearly 60. Sunday’s developments signal that the war that began more than a year ago with Hamas’ invasion of Israel may expand across the region. Since last Oct. 7, the U.S. has moved aircraft carriers to the region, devoted billions of do...
(JNS) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday called Iran the “empire of evil” and warned of its efforts to destabilize the Middle East. In an interview with Saudi state TV station Al Arabiya, Herzog said, “Iran is the only country in the world who calls for the eradication of another U.N. member state. Iran offers destruction. We are offering hope.” He called on the peoples of the region to take action. “I call upon the people of Lebanon, the people of Iran, the people of all of the oppressed nations in the region, to rise up and underst...
(JNS) — U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant following the “outrageous act of aggression by Iran,” reaffirming that the United States is ready to aid its friends and partners in the region. America is “well-postured to defend U.S. personnel, allies, and partners in the face of threats from Iran and Iran-backed terrorist organizations and is determined to prevent any actor from exploiting tensions or expanding the conflict in the region,” said Austin, according to the U.S. Defense Departmen...
(JNS) — The Jewish state has been fighting for its existence for the past 365 days, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, proposing to change the name of the Israel Defense Forces’ multi-front campaign to the “Revival War. “One year ago, at 6:29 a.m., Hamas terrorists launched a murderous surprise attack on the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said at a Cabinet meeting marking one year since the Oct. 7 massacre. “Since that dark day, we have been fighting,” the premier continued. “Since that dark day, we have been under attack on seven...
(JNS) — Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Friday described Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre of some 1,200 people in Israel as “logical and legal,” and vowed that the Jewish state “will not last long.” During a rare Friday sermon, Khamenei also defended the Islamic Republic’s massive ballistic missile assault on Israel on Tuesday, saying it “was the minimum punishment for the crimes of the usurping Zionist regime,” and claiming it accorded with international law, as well as Islamic beliefs. “The resistance in the region will not back down with thes...
Jewish leaders in Virginia oppose Kaine’s call to stop weapon transfers to Israel (JNS) — Concern expressed by Tim Kaine (D-Va.) that certain U.S.-supplied arms sent to Israel could kill Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and Judea and Samaria, prompted pushback from the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. Kaine released a statement last week about his intent to stop five out of 100 weapon transfers to Israel. “Since February, I have called on the Biden administration to support Israel through the provision of defen...
(JNS) — The Biden administration plans to send $157 million in new funding to “populations affected by conflict in Lebanon and the region,” drawing criticism, including from members of Congress, that the the monies are being misdirected. “The United States will provide nearly $157 million in new U.S. humanitarian assistance to support populations affected by conflict in Lebanon and the region,” stated U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday. “This funding will address new and existing needs of internally displaced persons and refugee...
(JNS) — The Biden administration has offered Israel a “compensation package” if it refrains from striking certain targets in Iran as part of its retaliation for Tehran’s Oct. 1 attack, Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster reported on Sunday. U.S. officials offered their Israeli counterparts “extensive diplomatic backing and additional military aid” if certain targets inside Iranian territory were spared, according to the report. An Israeli official told Kan, “We consider the United States to be our ally and are always ready to listen. At the...
(JNS) — In a statement marking the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack in southern Israel, António Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, referred to the terror group’s “abhorrent” acts and said that the ensuing war “continues to shatter lives and inflict profound human suffering for Palestinians in Gaza, and now the people of Lebanon.” “The Oct. 7 attack scarred souls, and on this day we remember all those who were brutally killed and suffered unspeakable violence, including sexual violence, as they were simply livi...
(JNS) — After a decade of slavery, a Yazidi woman ISIS terrorists kidnapped in Iraq and trafficked to a terrorist in the Gaza Strip was rescued in an operation spearheaded by the Israel Defense Forces. Fawzi Amin Sido, taken captive in 2014 at the age of 11, was freed this week and returned to her family in Iraq. The Palestinian terrorist who had been holding her was recently killed, allowing her to flee and eventually be rescued, the IDF said. “The young girl was extracted from the Gaza Strip in recent days in a secret operation through the...
(JNS) - A readout of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address at the start of the Security Cabinet meeting on Oct. 1 (translated from Hebrew): "Citizens of Israel, at the start of my remarks, I send condolences to the families of those who were murdered in the abhorrent terrorist attack in Jaffa and my best wishes for a quick recovery to the wounded. As in the missile attack, there was also a murderous guiding hand behind this terrorist attack-it came from Tehran. This evening, Iran...
(JTA) — Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz both expressed unstinting support for Israel during a vice-presidential debate that took place just after Israel came under Iranian assault. But the two men tussled over whether Donald Trump, the former president who is the Republican presidential nominee, would be as reliable a steward of the U.S.-Israel relationship as President Joe Biden has been. On Tuesday, Biden sent in reinforcements to help counter the Iranian onslaught and warned of “severe consequences” for Iran. In their first...
On Oct. 1, over 25 participants gathered for the Jewish Chamber's monthly networking breakfast, which was themed to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. The event offered a mix of professional networking and cultural enrichment. Jewish Pavilion Senior Services helped set the festive atmosphere, providing traditional high holiday decorations, including items like apples and honey. Attendees enjoyed round raisin challah, honey cake, homemade apple kugel, baba ganoush, lox for bagels, and other traditional...
Jewish Pavilion Senior Services is thrilled to announce the success of its 2024 online auction, which raised over $32,000 — the highest amount in its history! With nearly 400 people registering to participate, this year’s auction not only exceeded its fundraising goals but also set new records for community engagement. The funds raised will directly benefit seniors and their families, helping JPSS continue to provide essential services, enrichment programs, and support that makes a meaningful difference in the lives of so many. From social eve...
The Kristallnacht Commemorative Program will be observed on Sunday, Nov. 3 from 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. The Center will present “Silent Witness: The Ten Commandments Stone of Egelsbach,” and will include the unveiling of the newly acquired original 800-lb. sandstone Ten Commandments tablet from the old synagogue of Egelsbach, Germany. This tablet stands as a powerful symbol of resilience amidst the persecution faced by the Jewish communities of Germany, from the stone’s installation in 1903 to its final journey from Germany to Florida in 2000. The exh...
(JTA) — After last school year’s pervasive anti-Israel protests, spring encampments, and an unprecedented rise in antisemitic incidents on campus, Hillel International and campus Hillels have been working overtime to ensure that college and university campuses this fall are safer, more welcoming, and more inclusive for Jewish students as the new school year begins. “We know Jewish students are coming back to campus with hope and excitement, but also with real concerns and fears,” said Adam Lehman, Hillel International president and CEO. “The me...
(JNS) — U.S. President Joe Biden said he would speak with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel’s intensifying conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, adding that a full-blown regional war must be avoided. “It has to be,” Biden said as he boarded Air Force One for Washington, D.C. “We really have to avoid it.” Biden on Saturday praised Israel’s targeted killing of Hezbollah terror master Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, saying the development had brought justice to his thousands of victims. “Hassan Nasrallah and the terrorist group he led, H...
(JNS) — On the same day that Iran fired some 200 ballistic missiles at the Jewish state and two Palestinian terrorists killed seven people in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, the U.S. State Department announced sanctions against two Israelis in Judea and Samaria whom Foggy Bottom accused of “undermining peace, security and stability In the West Bank.” The State Department said that the two are “a violent Israeli settler and the CEO and director of U.S.-designated Hashomer Yosh.” “The actions of these individuals have contributed to creating an environment...
(JNS) — On the eve of the Jewish year 5785, the Jewish population worldwide numbers 15.8 million, an increase of about 100,000 compared to 5784, according to data published by The Jewish Agency. Israel is home to 7.3 million Jews, compared to 7.2 million at the beginning of 5784, while 8.5 million Jews live outside of Israel—including 6.3 million in the United States and 2.2 million in other countries, according to the data based on research by demographer professor Sergio Della Pergola from the Hebrew University. “The existential relat...
(JTA) — A Jewish student at the University of Pittsburgh was assaulted off campus early Friday morning by a group of six to eight men who used antisemitic and anti-Israel language during the attack, according to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police. A police report posted on Friday said the student told police that the group saw his Star of David necklace and then began making derogatory comments about Israel. The men and the student then began arguing, the report says, at which point at least three of the men “began punching and kicking him, causin...
(JTA) - At this point, Gabi Hasin had grown used to fleeing his home ahead of missile fire from Lebanon. A resident of the northern border city of Kiryat Shemona, Hasin has spent the past year on the move, relocating seven times to keep himself and his family out of harm's way. So when he packed his bags and moved south again over the past couple weeks - this time from the northern city of Tiberias to Jerusalem - it was the least of his problems. He's taking sleeping pills for the first time in...
(JTA) - A Jewish nonprofit that distributes mezuzahs has been deluged with thousands of requests after a Catholic sitcom actress launched a campaign encouraging people to put up the ritual object in support of the Jewish community. Patricia Heaton, known for her starring roles in "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "The Middle," announced the campaign Monday as part of her nonprofit, The October 7 Coalition, a Christian group founded after the Hamas attack in Israel last year to support the Jewish...
(JNS) — An Islamist insurgency in Mali may destroy the country’s Christian communities. Recently, Islamic militants there told Christians that they must support the militants’ activities through money or soldiers—or flee their homes. In August, the organization Open Doors, an organization that monitors Christian persecution on a global scale reported that: Christians in central Mali have been given an ultimatum by terrorists, either help in their fight against the country’s military power or leave their homes and communities. Pastors in the Mo...
NJ man sentenced for trying to fund Hamas (JNS) — Jonathan Xie, 25, of Basking Ridge, N.J., was sentenced on Monday to 64 months of time served and 20 years of supervised release for concealing his financial support for Hamas, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey stated. Xie “not only admitted sending money that he hoped would be used by the terrorist organization Hamas to fund violent acts against civilians in Israel, he professed his desire to travel to Gaza to join them,” stated Philip Sellinger, the U.S. attorne...
