Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Since Oct. 7, Israel Bonds has raised $1 billion (JNS) — In the first nine days since Hamas brutally attacked Israel on Oct. 7, Israel Bonds—which supports the Jewish state with its sales, which have totaled more than $50 billion since 1951—raised $200 million. Since then, Israel Bonds has raised four times that amount, raising its total in the past month to more than $1 billion. “This is Israel Bonds’ highest surge of investment ever, which demonstrates the strong support for Israel of the Jewish communities and Israel’s supporters in the Unit...
TAIPEI, Taiwan (JTA) — Growing up as a Bukharian Jew in China, Uriah was always told by his parents to hide his Jewishness in public and to try to assimilate into the greater Chinese population. Uriah — who asked to be identified only by his Hebrew name to ensure the safety of his family — said that when he began publicly talking about his Jewish identity, people told him that he would “never be one of us [Han Chinese].” But Uriah had never felt physically or personally threatened until the aftermath of Oct. 7, when Hamas killed over 1,400 Isr...
(JNS) — Israel does not have the right to defend itself, Russia’s representative to the United Nations said on Wednesday. The United States and its allies are hypocritical for talking “about Israel’s alleged right for self-defense, which, as an occupying state, it does not have, as was confirmed by the [U.N.’s] International Court [of Justice] consultative ruling in 2004,” Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya told a U.N. General Assembly special session on the Israel-Hamas war. Israel declared war on Hamas after thousands of terrorists from Gaza storme...
(JNS) — Antisemitic incidents across the globe, including violent ones and online hatred, increased significantly between Oct. 7 and Oct. 25 compared to that span last year, according to a report from the Israeli Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the World Zionist Organization. In the three weeks since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7, the number of antisemitic events rose 500 percent compared to the same period in 2022. A third of the new incidents recorded took place in the U...
Bolivia severs ties with Israel over war in Gaza By Gabe Friedman (JTA) — Bolivia’s foreign ministry announced Tuesday that it is severing diplomatic ties with Israel over what it called Israel’s crimes against humanity in its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Bolivia had previously cut ties with Israel in 2009 under President Evo Morales over another violent conflict in Gaza, but President Jeanine Anez restored relations in 2020. Bolivia’s current president, Luis Arce, is a member of the country’s left-wing socialist party and was formerly...
(JNS) — Israel must “immediately and significantly” increase the amount of humanitarian aid entering the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, U.S. President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call on Sunday. “The President reiterated that Israel has every right and responsibility to defend its citizens from terrorism and underscored the need to do so in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law that prioritizes the protection of civilians,” according to a White House readout of the call. Biden and...
The government of Qatar is pressuring the Hamas terrorist organization to release additional captives being held in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported Wednesday. According to the report Qatar, a key patron of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, is demanding the terror organization speed up the release of captives, even without concessions from Israel, ahead of Israel’s planned ground operation into the coastal enclave. Following the Oct. 7 invasion, Qatar has brokered talks between the Biden administration and Hamas for the release of captives held in G...
(JNS) — Hundreds of Hollywood celebrities have called on President Joe Biden to “not rest” until all the Israeli hostages held by the Hamas terrorist organization are free. The signatories include Madonna, Chris Rock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gal Gadot, Jack Black, Isla Fisher, Jerry Seinfeld, Bradley Cooper, Tyler Perry, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Courtney Cox, Jessica Biel, Orlando Bloom, Tiffany Haddish, Will Ferrell, Brooke Shields and Chelsea Handler. In an open letter, the stars praised Biden for his “unshakable moral conviction, leaders...
(JNS) - The United States is preparing for possible mass evacuations of its citizens from Israel and Lebanon should the war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza spark a regional conflagration. Four U.S. officials familiar with the government's contingency planning told The Washington Post that Americans living in the two neighboring countries were of particular concern. According to State Department estimates, around 600,000 U.S. citizens resided in Israel and another 86,000 were believed to be in...
(JNS) — A resolution “calling for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and occupied Palestine” has drawn 18 House Democrats signatories, led by Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.). Bush’s fellow “Squad” members Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) were among the original co-signers of H.Res. 786. Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) and Greg Casar (D-Texas) were also signatories. Bowman and Lee signed on at the beginning, on Oct. 16, and Casar a...
(JNS) — For U.S. Republican Senators Steve Daines and Rick Scott, the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre feels personal. At this weekend’s Republican Jewish Coalition Leadership Summit in Las Vegas, Scott detailed to JNS a series of meetings he’s held with Israeli families affected by the tragedy. “We put a big poster of all the hostages’ pictures in my office … two of the families’ kids went over to fight with the IDF and they were captured,” said Scott. He showed JNS a dog tag on a chain given to him by one of those families. In Hebrew, it read “Our he...
Bank of Israel leaves benchmark rate unchanged (JNS) — The Monetary Committee of the Bank of Israel decided on Monday to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 4.75 percent. The war against terrorists in Gaza and Lebanon that began on Oct. 7 is having various economic effects, both on real activity and on the financial markets, the central bank noted. The bank has taken a number of policy measures to deal with the situation. The financial markets are functioning and a large part of economic activity is continuing as usual, it said. In view of...
(JNS) - The Hamas terrorist group may release 50 hostages with dual citizenship it holds in the Gaza Strip, "separate from any broader deal," The New York Times reported on Monday, citing an Israeli military source. Qatar and the United States are negotiating the release of abductees with dual nationality separately from those who have only Israeli citizenship, the report claimed. Israeli senior officials have previously said that Israel is not involved in any kind of negotiations related to...
(JNS) - U.S. President Joe Biden praised the Israeli people's wartime posture upon his arrival to the Jewish state on Wednesday. "To the people of Israel, your courage and commitment is stunning. I'm proud to be here," the American president said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeted Biden at the Ben-Gurion Airport tarmac along with President Isaac Herzog and other senior officials, before heading to the Kempinski Hotel on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea to speak to the media. "...
(JNS) — Foreign Minister Eli Cohen will speak about the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7 and Israel’s response at Tuesday’s United Nations Security Council meeting in New York. The minister will bring with him relatives of Israelis the terrorist group abducted and took to the Gaza Strip, the Foreign Ministry said. On Monday, the IDF said it had contacted the families of 222 hostages held by Hamas. Cohen will also participate in events in New York with the families of those kidnapped. He is also expected to meet with U.N. Secretary-General Antón...
(JNS) — Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that Muslims and the “resistance forces” will “lose patience” if Israel continues to prosecute its war against the Hamas terror group. “If these [Israeli] crimes continue, the Muslims will lose patience. The resistance forces will lose their patience. No one will be able to stop them at that point…. This is a reality,” Khemanei said in a video address later posted to X. In separate posts, Khamenei called Israel an “evil monster” and described the “Palestine and Gaza” as “manifestati...
(JNS) — The United Nations Security Council was scheduled to hold an emergency session on Wednesday morning following an explosion at a Gaza hospital that has set the Middle East on edge. Russia and the United Arab Emirates called for the open meeting shortly after the explosion, in the courtyard of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, which according to Hamas sources killed some 500 Palestinians. The explosion rocked the hospital as Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired heavy barrages of rockets at southern and central Israel. Alarms sounded i...
(JNS) — Cairo announced that humanitarian aid would enter Gaza via the Rafah border crossing, as residents of the Strip continue to move south ahead of a looming Israeli ground invasion. “Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and U.S. President Joe Biden have agreed on the sustainable delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip via the Rafah terminal,” announced Egyptian presidential spokesperson Ahmed Fahmy. In a move criticized by families of Israelis being held hostage in Gaza by the Hamas terrorist organization, Israel’s war Cabinet...
Acting deputy secretary of state to meet with J Street board at State Department (JNS) — Victoria Nuland, acting U.S. deputy secretary of state, was slated to meet with the board of directors of J Street at the U.S. State Department on Wednesday. “Closed press coverage,” a public schedule from Foggy Bottom stated. No more information was available from the State Department schedule. JNS sought comment from J Street but did not hear back. Earlier this month, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, a union, joine...
(JNS) — The numbers are astonishing. More Jews were slaughtered in one day that at any time since the Holocaust—more than 1,400 Jews, mostly civilians. But that is just a number. What is most painful are the pictures. They are killing Jewish babies again. And those pictures will stick in my mind forever. A dead baby in its bed, covered with its own blood. Even more impactful—a bloody pacifier on top of a changing table. No need to show what happened to its owner. We feel pain, anger and frust...
(JNS) — In January, Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, said during an International Holocaust Remembrance Day event that the international body was “founded upon the ashes of the Holocaust. It was established to ensure such darkness would never be felt by humanity again,” but “when it comes to fighting antisemitism, sadly, the U.N. ignores its purpose.” António Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, was present at the time, and the U.N. point man on antisemitism, Miguel Moratinos, later told JNS that “Israel and...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Joe Biden said he is designating experts to help in the effort to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas. The announcement came following U.S. confirmation that there are Americans among the more than 100 captives the terror group took back to the Gaza Strip in its invasion of Israel. “We’re working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel including deploying experts to advise on assist and recovery,” Biden told a round table of Jewish leaders invited Wednesday to the White House for a briefing on what...
WASHINGTON — The leadership of Christians United for Israel, the nation’s largest pro-Israel organization, issued the following statements concerning the Hamas attack on Israel. “The scenes we are witnessing today in Israel are heart-wrenching. Our prayers are with the people of Israel as they expel the invaders and work to save their countrymen. In the coming days, we’ll no doubt hear from those who wish to draw a moral equivalence between Hamas and the Israeli military. Make no mistake, anyone who would seek to undermine Israel’s response...
(JTA) — On a visit to Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged American support for the country as it ramps up its war on Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza. Israel is reportedly preparing for a ground invasion of Gaza, its first in nearly a decade, five days after hundreds of Hamas terrorists stormed Israeli towns and killed more than 1,300 people, wounding thousands and taking more than 100 captive. Israel has formed an emergency unity government to carry out the war, which will be led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin N...
(JNS) - "Stars of David, they took your life, they could not take your pride," sang U2 lead singer Bono. The Irish band was performing at the Las Vegas Sphere, and Bono dedicated the song "Pride" to "those beautiful kids at that music festival," speaking and singing about the hundreds of dead, missing and captured participants in the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re'im close to the border with Gaza. At least 260 of the 3,000 festival participants were murdered by Hamas terrorists on...
