Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1523
(JNS) — Iranian sleeper cells in the United States are a concern that should be taken seriously in the aftermath of U.S. and Israeli strikes that killed Ali Khamenei and other Iranian regime leaders over the weekend, experts told JNS. “They pose a very grave threat,” Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at American Enterprise Institute and director of policy analysis at Middle East Forum, told JNS. “The Iranians are going to strike us where we are least defended.” Past incidents show that sleeper cells exist, including a thwarted 2011 Iranian plot to...
(JNS) — New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill stated on Wednesday that her administration is working to assist residents stranded in the Middle East amid widespread flight suspensions caused by the escalating conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States, while criticizing the federal government for leaving families “stranded, frustrated and potentially in danger.” Sherrill said her office has been in contact with New Jersey residents in the region, encouraging them to enroll in the U.S. State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program...
(JNS) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Iran’s refusal to discuss its ballistic missile program a “big problem” and an “unsustainable threat” to the American home front ahead of Thursday’s indirect nuclear talks in Geneva, the third round this month between Washington and Tehran. “Iran possesses a very large number of ballistic missiles, particularly short-range ballistic missiles that threaten the United States and our bases in the region and our partners in the region, and all of ou...
(JNS) - The head of Uganda's military said on Thursday that his country is set to unveil a statue of IDF Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, the older brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was killed in action in Uganda during a counter-terrorism operation that rescued more than 100 hostages almost 50 years ago. "In order to strengthen our close blood relations with Israel, we shall soon unveil a statue to Yoni Netanyahu at the exact spot he was killed at Entebbe Airport," tweeted...
Israeli FM urges countries to sever ties with Iranian regime (JNS) — Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called on countries around the world to cut diplomatic relations with the Iranian regime in a virtual briefing on Tuesday for ambassadors stationed in Israel. “Following the Iranian regime’s attack on all its neighbors and the massacre of its own people—countries around the world must sever their ties with it,” Jerusalem’s top diplomat told 60 envoys who participated in the meeting, according the minister’s office. Sa’ar stressed that the...
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump denied claims on Tuesday that Israel forced him into taking preemptive action against Iran. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump said that he believed that Iran was going to launch a first strike during talks between Tehran and Washington. “We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first,” Trump said. “They were going to attack if we didn’t do it. They were going to attack first. I felt strongly...
(JNS) — British actor Hugh Laurie on Friday distanced himself from Zionism after receiving negative reactions online for eulogizing an Israeli friend who died at the age of 52. “Nothing I have ever said or done could lead a sane person to believe that I am a Zionist,” Laurie, 66, the star of Fox Network’s “House M.D.” medical drama, wrote on X in response to criticism of his Feb. 17 eulogy of producer Dana Eden. He added he’d block on X anyone who “exults” in the death of his “friend.” A creator of the “Tehran” series by Israel’s Kan broadcast...
Germany’s largest political party moves to end funding for UNRWA, tighten oversight of PA aid (JNS) — The largest political party in the German federal legislature is calling for an end to financial support of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, the global body’s Palestinian aid organization, according to Jüdische Allgemeine, the country’s national Jewish weekly newspaper. The Christian Democratic Union, led by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, unanimously approved a motion on Feb. 21 calling for stricter criteria for aid payments to the Pale...
(JNS) — Controversial conservative commentator and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson made several false statements during his Feb. 18 interview with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. Carlson claimed for example that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s family did not speak Hebrew and had no historical ties to the region. This is incorrect: the leader’s paternal grandfather, Nathan Mileikowsky, was a Zionist rabbi who delivered sermons in Hebrew—uncommon at the time—and ensured that his family spoke the language at home. His...
Whale shark spotted off Eilat coast By JNS Staff (JNS) — A whale shark about 5-meters (16-feet) long was spotted on Sunday morning in Eilat Bay. The rare sighting was documented by city lifeguard Brian Lieberman, who captured the animal on video near the shore, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported. Whale sharks are the largest known living fish species and by far the most massive non-cetacean animal extant. They are considered harmless to humans. The shark briefly approached the shore before returning to deeper water. Former Hamas hos...
(JNS) — The largest political party in the German federal legislature is calling for an end to financial support of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, the global body’s Palestinian aid organization, according to Jüdische Allgemeine, the country’s national Jewish weekly newspaper. The Christian Democratic Union, led by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, unanimously approved a motion on Feb. 21 calling for stricter criteria for aid payments to the Palestinians, and an end to German and European donations to UNRWA. The social services agency has com...
(JNS) — A senior Cabinet minister in Germany who was the main government representative at the Berlin International Film Festival, aka the Berlinale, on Sunday, left the event in protest after a director accused Israel of perpetrating genocide. Carsten Schneider, the federal minister for the environment, nature conservation, climate protection and nuclear safety, represents the center-left Social Democratic Party. He left the Berlinale gala event during a speech by Syrian filmmaker Abdallah Alkhatib, who identifies as a Palestinian, the dpa n...
(JNS) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump has “a lot tools” to ensure that the Iranian regime doesn’t acquire nuclear weapons amid indirect talks between Washington and Tehran and an American military buildup in the Middle East. The vice president spoke to Fox News on the day that a second round of U.S.-Iran negotiations in Geneva took place, with the Iranians signaling progress. Vance said that Washington has set red lines in nuclear negotiations with Iran and that Trump retains military options if dipl...
(JNS) — Iran’s foreign minister vowed on Sunday that Tehran will never abandon uranium enrichment, even if it means facing war with the United States, sharpening a tense standoff over its nuclear program. The Islamic Republic “has paid a very heavy price for its peaceful nuclear program and for uranium enrichment,” Abbas Araghchi claimed during a forum in the capital, according to AFP. “Why do we insist so much on enrichment and refuse to give it up even if a war is imposed on us? Because no one has the right to dictate our behavior,...
(JNS) — When the 20 national teams gather next month for the World Baseball Classic, every team but one will be accompanied by two Major League Baseball security agents. Team Israel will have four. “This is just stuff that other teams do not have to deal with,” Nate Fish, manager of the Israeli national team and CEO of Israel Baseball Americas, told JNS. “But it’s stuff that we’re used to dealing with.” “We don’t talk about it that much,” he said. It’s been nine years since Team Israel, then ranked 49th, shocked the world by reaching the secon...
El Al to fly to Vietnam, Korea and the Philippines By Etgar Lefkovits (JNS) — Israel’s flag carrier, El Al, announced on Sunday that it will launch nonstop service to Hanoi, Seoul and Manila from Tel Aviv, marking a major expansion of its service to Asia. The thrice-weekly flights to each city will bring to a record 60 the number of destinations serviced by El Al. The flights to Vietnam—which is already serviced by rival Israeli airline Arkia—will begin in October with economy fares starting at $899 round-trip, while service to South Korea will...
(JNS) — Barnabás (Barni) and Noa Szollos, brother and sister and Team Israel’s representatives on the ski slopes for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, have already cemented their place in Israeli winter sports history. Noa, 23, became the youngest Israeli to medal at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland, taking bronze in the super-G (super giant slalom) speed-focused event and silver in combined, an event that features a speed and a technical portion. Part of her motivation was beating her brother’s personal best, she to...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Eighty-one years after the Holocaust, in a scenario that once seemed inconceivable, Israel and Germany have become allies. Germans defend Israel in the international arena, and Israel provides military defense for Germany. In an interview marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jan. 27, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, one of Israel’s most prominent friends in the Bundestag, explained why Berlin will continue purchasing weapons from Israel and supporting it in the international arena despite imp...
(JNS) - Professor and Jewish historian Deborah Lipstadt, former U.S. envoy for monitoring and combating antisemitism from 2022 to 2025, is set to receive Bar-Ilan University's 2026 Jonathan Sacks Institute Prize for Outstanding Achievement as a Public Intellectual. The award, established by the Gewurz family of Montreal in memory of Samuel Gewurz, honors figures whose work advances the ideas and moral vision of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the...
(JNS) - Backed by Mexico and Brazil, Gabriel Boric, Chile's outgoing president, nominated former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, a harsh critic of the Jewish state, to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations. Boric, who is also anti-Israel, made the announcement on Monday. José Antonio Kast, a right-wing politician who is set to assume the Chilean presidency next month, would be unlikely to nominate Bachelet, 74, for the role. Bachelet, who was Brazil's president twice-from...
(JNS) — In recent years, the number of Jews in New York applying for German citizenship has nearly doubled, according to a Deutsche Welle report. That includes Ruth Gruenthal, who fled Nazi persecution in her teens and rebuilt her life in the United States. The 103-year-old told the German publication that U.S. President Donald Trump’s reelection “evoked feelings that I thought I would never in my lifetime have to deal with again.” The German consulate in New York City has recorded 666 restorations of naturalizations of Jews, whose citizen...
(JNS) - Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday received the diplomatic credentials of the new ambassadors of Fiji and Thailand to Israel in formal ceremonies at the President's Residence in Jerusalem. Welcoming Fiji's envoy, Jesoni Vitusagavulu, Herzog said, "I am honored to welcome the first-ever ambassador of Fiji to Israel in Jerusalem." Herzog congratulated the Pacific island nation on its decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem, calling it a historic milestone in bilateral relations....
US, Israeli navies conduct planned Red Sea drill By JNS Staff (JNS) — Israeli naval vessels on Sunday conducted a joint exercise with a U.S. Navy destroyer, as part of ongoing cooperation between the Israeli Navy and the U.S. 5th Fleet in the Red Sea arena. The American destroyer docked at the port of Eilat as part of a “pre-planned, routine visit,” according to the Israel Defense Forces. The exercise “highlights the close cooperation between the two navies and the respective militaries,” the IDF stated. The USS Delbert D. Black arrived a...
(JNS) — The upcoming U.S.-Iran nuclear talks are now expected to be held in Oman on Friday after the Trump administration agreed to Tehran’s request to move the venue from Turkey, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing an Arab source familiar with the discussions. The source told reporter Barak Ravid that there are ongoing negotiations about whether Arab and Muslim regional countries will join the talks in the Gulf state, with the White House declining to comment. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that he had instructed For...
(JNS) — In an E.U. survey published on Tuesday, 69% of some 25,000 respondents said that events in Israel shape how Jews are perceived in their country. The poll, published on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, showed an increase in the perception that Israel influences how Jews are thought of: In a similar poll from 2018, 54 percent indicated there was a link to the Jewish state. The European Commission’s Eurobarometer survey on the perception of antisemitism also reported that 55 percent of respondents consider antisemitism to be a pro...
