Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — A German government spokesperson declared on Friday that Berlin has no immediate plans to recognize a Palestinian state, calling such a move at this stage “counterproductive” to the pursuit of a negotiated two-state solution with Israel. “A negotiated two-state solution remains our goal, even if it seems a long way off today,” the spokesperson told a press briefing. “Recognition of Palestine is more likely to come at the end of such a process. Right now, it would undermine efforts toward peace.” Berlin’s statement stands in sharp...
President Donald Trump said Monday morning that the remaining hostages in Gaza will only be returned when Hamas is “confronted and destroyed.” “We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be,” wrote Trump in a post on Truth Social. Trump’s latest comments appeared to support a recent plan approved by Israel’s security cabinet to take over Gaza City, a move reportedly opposed by the IDF over concerns it could endanger the remai...
(JNS) - Ilan Gordon seemed calm, cool and collected the day before he changed his life. Or, at least, his location. The 22-year-old, who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh this spring with a degree in exercise science, headed to Israel on the Nefesh B'Nefesh group aliyah charter flight that left New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on Tuesday, Aug. 19, afternoon, along with 225 other North Americans. He is scheduled to be in Tel Aviv until Sept. 4, when he will officially join the Garin...
(JNS) — The Pentagon is seeking more than $3.5 billion to restock weapons and cover related costs following U.S. military operations tied to Israel’s defense, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. According to budget documents prepared through mid-May, the requested funds would be used to replace munitions expended during recent operations—including at least $1 billion for Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) interceptors produced by Arlington, Virginia-based RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies)—and to finance routine tasks such as radar mainten...
(JNS) — A Jewish family was allegedly kicked off a taxi in Austria last week and called “murderers” by the driver, who reportedly assaulted one of the passengers. In France, “Free Palestine” graffiti was sprayed on Jewish-owned cars on Wednesday. In the Netherlands, Israelis were filmed at a vacation park and threatened online last week. And in Italy, a hotel employee demanded that an Israeli guest cancel her booking if she supported her government’s actions. The incidents, all reported in local media, were part of a wave of violence an...
(JNS) — Former Hamas hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel led a group of protesters in Pretoria, South Africa on Monday to confront the International Committee of the Red Cross over its inaction regarding captives held by Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza. They were joined on the “Bring the Hostages Home” Solidarity Bus Ride to the South African capital by the South African Zionist Federation, members of civil society, faith leaders and political representatives. “We are here at the Red Cross o...
Jewish Maryland congressman latest Dem to sponsor arms restrictions against Israel (JNS) — Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) joined far-left House Democrats in pushing for restrictive arms sales to Israel. The “Block the Bombs Act,” to which Raskin signed on as a co-sponsor, would require Congress to authorize each sale or transfer of a variety of weapons systems and to identify how those weapons would be used. The conditions imposed by the law would be unprecedented in the U.S.-Israel relationship. Raskin, who is Jewish, represents a suburban Maryl...
The American real estate developer shared a message via Instagram, saying, “A state that produces such violence is one that should not exist.” Some of the comments underneath the post echoed Hadid’s message. “End Zionism and restore world peace!!!” one commenter wrote. “Yes exactly this. From the river to the sea Palestine will be free,” another person said. “I couldn’t agree more! Zioni$m needs to be dismantled for good!” a third wrote. Hadid, 76, has been vocal regarding his anti-Israel views. He was born in Nazareth in 1948, shortly befor...
The UJA-Federation of New York will send $1 million to an Israeli humanitarian group providing aid to civilians in Gaza, the federation’s CEO announced on Friday. The funds will go to IsraAID, Israel’s largest nongovernmental aid organization, to supply food, medicine and water filtration systems for displaced Gazans. IsraAID has traditionally operated in disaster zones abroad, from earthquake relief in Turkey to aid for Ukrainian refugees, but since Oct. 7 has expanded its work to Israel and now into Gaza. In a letter to the community, UJA...
‘A two-state solution means our end,’ says Israel’s FM (JNS) — Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told a visiting delegation of American journalists on Wednesday that the establishment of a Palestinian state would pose an existential threat to Israel. The delegation, led by Newsmax founder and CEO Christopher Ruddy, is visiting Israel as part of the Foreign Ministry’s public diplomacy initiative. “A two-state solution? A Palestinian state in the heart of Israel would indeed be a solution—for those who seek to eliminate us. We will not let...
Teens entering grades 9-12 are encouraged to join their local Orlando chapter of HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir, conducted by Eric Levine, for a rewarding combination of music, culture, leadership and friendship. Rehearsals for the 2025-2026 season begin in late August, culminating in a gala performance at the new David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center in NYC next spring with hundreds of HaZamir singers from across the U.S. and Israel. For more information contact...
Teacher showed video promoting ‘bias toward Jewish students,’ Bay Area district probe finds (JNS) — The Santa Clara Unified School District determined that one of its teachers violated district policy by showing a video to her class in March 2024 that compared Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza to the Holocaust, according to a document that JNS viewed. The district, which educates about 15,300 students in the San Francisco area, wrote in a July 25 letter to the Bay Area Jewish Coalition Education and Advocacy that the video featured a Holocau...
\(JTA) — Canada, too, will recognize a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly in September as long as certain conditions are met, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Wednesday. “The deepening suffering of civilians leaves no room for delaying coordinated international action to support peace, security and the dignity of human life,” Carney, a liberal elected in April, said at a press conference, referring to a hunger crisis in Gaza that has grown acute. The move adds Canada to the United Kingdom and France as major world power...
(JNS) — A group of 60 French Jewish immigrants arrived in Israel on Tuesday on a flight sponsored by a Jerusalem-based evangelical Christian organization. The move, which comes amid a rise in global antisemitism triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel, highlights the burgeoning ties between the evangelical Christian community around the world and the Jewish state. “This is more than just a flight, it’s prophecy in motion,” said Peter Fast, International CEO of Bridges for Peace. “When Christians from around th...
(JNS) — Former Washington Wizards basketball player Gilbert Arenas, suspected Israeli organized crime figure Yevgeni Gershman and four others were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly operating illegal high-stakes poker games at a mansion that Arenas owns in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Encino, the U.S. Justice Department said. Arenas, 43, was charged with three counts: conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, operating an illegal gambling business and making false statements to federal investigators. The five others—Yevgeni Ger...
Harvard announces Ben-Gurion University study abroad program Harvard University announced two new partnerships on Monday that it says “promise to bolster the university’s academic engagement with Israeli institutions and create greater opportunities for students and researchers.” The Ivy League university plans to start offering credit for study abroad at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the spring 2026 semester, and Harvard Medical School will award two- or three-year Kalaniyot postdoctoral fellowships in biomedical research to Israelis....
(JNS) — U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Friday mocked Paris’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state, suggesting that this new entity be located in southern France and named after a fictional monster. “[French President Emmanuel] Macron’s unilateral ‘declaration’ of a ‘Palestinian’ state didn’t say WHERE it would be. I can now exclusively disclose that France will offer the French Riviera and the new nation will be called ‘Franc-en-Stine,’ tweeted Huckabee, in an apparent reference to Mary Shelley’s classic novel “Frankens...
(JNS) — French President Emmanuel Macron stated on Thursday that “consistent with its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East,” Paris intends to recognize a Palestinian state. “I will make this solemn announcement before the United Nations General Assembly this coming September,” Macron stated. “The urgent priority today is to end the war in Gaza and to bring relief to the civilian population.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “strongly” condemned Macron’s decision “to recognize a Palestinian state nex...
Anti-Israel vandals deface AOC’s office Anti-Israel vandals defaced the Bronx, N.Y., office of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Sunday after the far-left member of “The Squad” in the U.S. House of Representatives voted against cutting aid to the Jewish state, the New York Post reported. The vandals wrote in red paint that the congresswoman “funds genocide in Gaza.” The Boogie Down Liberation Front, which claimed responsibility, stated that “the Bronx is sick and tired of people like AOC and Ritchie Torres using us as a stepping-st...
(JNS) — An Israeli musician says he and two colleagues were kicked out of a restaurant in Vienna for speaking Hebrew, while elsewhere in Austria, a couple from Israel reported being denied service at a trailer park because of their nationality. The musicians — Hagai Shaham, Julia Gurvitch and Amit Peled — were waiting for the server at an eatery called “Pizzeria Ristorante Ramazzotti” on Meiselstrasse, a quiet street in Vienna’s 2nd district, or Leopoldstadt, which is the city’s most heavily Jewish quarter. The server heard them speaking Hebr...
(JNS) - History was made overnight at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, as Israeli-American Michael Mizrachi, 44, clinched the world championship title and walked away with a $10 million prize. Mizrachi, a Florida native and son of an Israeli father, proudly displayed a tattoo of the Israeli flag on his arm. In a recent major tournament victory, he requested that Israel's national anthem be played instead of the U.S. anthem. This time, he competed wearing a tag around his neck symbolizing...
(JNS) — Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, has accused the United Nations of being “transparently antisemitic.” The claim, made in an internal employee forum, was first reported by The Washington Post and followed a published report by a controversial U.N. official accusing a selection of businesses, including technology firms, of profiting from the “genocide carried out by Israel” in Gaza. Google and its parent company, Alphabet, were among those listed in the U.N. report as a result of their provision of cloud and AI tech for the Israeli g...
SpaceX launches ‘Dror-1’ Israeli communications satellite By JNS Staff (JNS) — Israel’s new national communications satellite, “Dror-1,” was launched into space on Sunday morning, Israel Aerospace Industries announced. Designed to meet Israel’s national communication needs, the Israeli-made satellite lifted off at 8 a.m. local time from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Weighing 4.5 tons and with an 18-meter wingspan, Dror-1 separated from its launcher approximately 40 minutes after liftoff and began independently...
(JNS) — The strong support that Israel received from the United States in its short-lived war against Iran caused “a great change in our region” and could lead to peace, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Tuesday. “The coordination between our two countries — the coordination between an American president and an Israeli prime minister — has been unmatched,” he told reporters following a private meeting with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). “It offers great promise for Israel, for America, for our region and for the wor...
(European Jewish Press via JNS) — “British Jews should leave the U.K. unless the government changes, and the Labour Party is responsible for fueling antisemitism across the country,” Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism told the Daily Mail on Tuesday. “Without a dramatic change of course by Britain’s political leadership, I see no future for Jewish life in England,” he said. “My recommendation to Jews in the U.K. is to consider leaving and make aliyah to the Land of Israel,” Chikli added. He recently gave the same a...
