Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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As one of the largest Jewish camp operators in the United States, NJY Camps was expecting to host over 100 Israeli counselors this summer. Now, over half of them are stranded in Israel after the surprise onset of a war with Iran has ground air travel to a total halt. “Some of them were supposed to be here today. They will not be here today, and who knows when they will be here,” said Michael Schlank, CEO of the network of day and overnight camps in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. At Jewish camps in the United States, hosting Israelis as cou...
NEW YORK — Following a U.S. operation targeting Iran’s underground nuclear facilities, Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress, issued the following statement: “A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat to Western civilization and global security. It is my hope that today’s historic operation by the United States has brought an end to the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions once and for all. “I applaud President Trump and his administration for having the courage to act decisively, and for lending critical Am...
(JTA) — President Donald Trump is pressing forward in seeking a nuclear deal with Iran following a massive wave of Israeli attacks on the country’s nuclear program. Trump, who has built his public persona around a verve for making deals, addressed his now-weakened negotiating partner in a post on Truth Social on Friday morning, several hours after the Israelis began carrying out a daring and apparently successful mission in Iran that took aim at the places and personnel involved in the country’s effort to develop a nuclear weapon. Trump said...
The White House was informed of Israel’s strikes against the Iranian regime ahead of time but was not involved militarily, U.S. President Donald Trump told Fox News‘ Bret Baier on Friday. Washington still hopes that Tehran will clinch a nuclear agreement with the United States, Trump told Baier. “Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see,” Fox News cited the commander-in-chief as saying. “There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back,” he added. U.S. officials w...
(JNS) - The worldwide Jewish population grew by 870,000 in the decade from 2010 to 2020, according to the Pew Research Center's global religion survey released on Monday. The analysis of worldwide religious trends looked at self-reported religious belief, except in Israel, where the surveyors used the government's population register. "The number of Jews around the world grew by 6 percent, from an estimated 14 million in 2010 to nearly 15 million in 2020," the researchers wrote. "That's fewer...
IDF to civilians in much of northern Gaza: Leave now (JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces issued an “urgent” and “serious” evacuation notice for noncombatants in parts of the northern Gaza Strip on Monday morning. Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab Media Branch in the military’s Spokesperson’s Unit, posted to his Arabic-language account the areas that have become dangerous combat zones where IDF troops will be engaging with terrorists: Jabalia, Jabalia Camp, the Old City, and the neighborhoods of Al-Nahda, Al-Rawda, Al-Salam, Al-Noor, Al-T...
(JNS) — The U.S. State Department declined to clarify its position on a potential Palestinian state on Tuesday, following comments from Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, that such a state within the current Palestinian Authority-governed territory is unlikely “in our lifetime.” Huckabee told Bloomberg that he doesn’t think a two-state solution remains U.S. policy, and that “unless there are some significant things that happen that change the culture, there’s no room for it.” He told the publication that Palestinians could settle...
(JNS) — U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee issued a scathing rebuke of several major American news outlets on Monday, accusing them of spreading false, Hamas-sourced narratives. In a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Huckabee directly blamed “reckless and irresponsible reporting” by the New York Times, CNN and the Associated Press for fueling antisemitic violence in the United States — specifically referencing last month’s deadly shooting of two Israelis in Washington, D.C., and Sunday’s firebombing of a pro-Israel demonstrati...
(JNS) — Starting just after midnight on June 9, citizens of 12 countries are to be barred from entering the United States, and those of seven others are partly blocked, per a presidential proclamation on June 4. “This approach was designed to encourage cooperation with the subject countries in recognition of each country’s unique circumstances,” U.S. President Donald Trump said. “The restrictions and limitations imposed by this proclamation are, in my judgment, necessary to prevent the entry or admission of foreign nationals about whom the...
(JNS) - In response to Sunday's antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colo., Kristi Noem, the U.S. homeland security secretary, announced that she directed U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to "ramp up" crackdowns on those who overstay their visas. The Trump administration stated that the "urgent crackdown" comes after a 45-year-old Egyptian, "who had overstayed his visa in the United States and remained in the country...
No uranium enrichment under any Iran deal By JNS Staff (JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump stated unequivocally that the nuclear deal currently being discussed with Iran will not allow any uranium enrichment, contradicting earlier media reports. The statement came shortly after Israeli news outlet Walla, citing two sources familiar with the deal, reported on Monday that Washington was open to permitting Iran limited, low-level uranium enrichment for an unspecified duration. That report conflicted with earlier reassurances from senior a...
The White House was informed of Israel’s strikes against the Iranian regime ahead of time but was not involved militarily, U.S. President Donald Trump told Fox News‘ Bret Baier on Friday. Washington still hopes that Tehran will clinch a nuclear agreement with the United States, Trump told Baier. “Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see,” Fox News cited the commander-in-chief as saying. “There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back,” he added. U.S. officials w...
A special time of global prayer for Israel will be Saturday, June 7, 2025 at 9 p.m. Israel time; 8 p.m. S. Africa & Central Europe; 7 p.m. UK; 2 p.m. Eastern and 11 a.m. Pacific U.S. time. After over 600 days of war since the October 7 Hamas massacre, with concerns of imposing a ceasefire on Israel without all the hostages released, near daily missile attacks on Israel from the Houthis, and a deal being negotiated with Iran that may leave its ability to create a nuclear weapon intact, it’s essential that we unite urgently, globally, to pray t...
(JNS) — U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff’s latest ceasefire proposal for the Israel-Hamas war includes the two-stage release of 10 living hostages and 18 bodies, in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire aimed at facilitating negotiations to end the war, according to a report on Thursday. On the first day, five living hostages and nine deceased hostages would be released, followed by five more living hostages and nine deceased on the seventh day, according to an Israeli source cited by Israel’s Channel 12 News. The proposal, which...
(JNS) — In today’s volatile world, with the Middle East undergoing significant change, Meta (formerly Facebook) has a Supreme Court-like body that determines content on Facebook and Instagram, comprising 21 people on an independent board that even Mark Zuckerberg (its founder, chairman and CEO) cannot fire. The so-called Oversight Board comprises many Jew-hating non-Americans who decided recently that calling “From the River to the Sea” “antisemitic is either inaccurate or rooted in Islamophobia.” The Oversight Board has ruled that it is okay...
Argentina’s President Milei to receive $1m Genesis Prize in Israel By JNS Staff (JNS) — Argentina’s President Javier Milei will be awarded the $1 million Genesis Prize during his visit to Israel next month. The staunchly pro-Israel leader is to receive the prize during his June 11 speech at Israel’s parliament. The award was announced in January in recognition of his unequivocal support for the Jewish state. Organizers say Milei will donate the prize money to launch an initiative aimed at improving diplomatic relations between Israel and Lat...
The morning after a shooter killed two Israeli embassy aides at a Jewish event in Washington, D.C., incendiary rapper Ye took to X with an unexpected message: “I am done with antisemitism.” Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has become well known for antisemitic rants and provocations, including a song he debuted earlier this month titled “Heil Hitler.” In February, Ye doubled down on his antisemitic sentiments, declaring in a post on X, “I’m never apologizing for my Jewish comments.” But in a string of posts Thursday morning after the dea...
Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed on Wednesday evening outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. The male victim was identified as Yaron Lischinsky. His final post on social media was a repost of a message condemning the United Nations' false claim that 14,000 infants in Gaza were facing imminent starvation, labeling it a modern-day blood libel. According to Israeli Ambassador to Berlin Ron Prosor, who taught him as a master student, Lischinsky was a Germany-born...
(JNS) - American Jewish leaders, who attended Pope Leo XIV's inaugural Mass in Rome on Sunday and met with the pontiff at the Vatican the following day, are optimistic about the future of Jewish-Catholic relations. But they told JNS that they remain clear-eyed about what they think is likely to be a continuation of the Church's approach of holding Israel uniquely responsible for the war that Hamas started on Oct. 7, 2023. "There is a feeling that there is a desire for a renewed moment, but...
(JNS) — In a speech to Congress on Tuesday, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, objected to a proposal by Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) seeking to end the war against Hamas and the blockade of the Gaza Strip, saying the resolution doesn’t focus on who is to blame for the conflict in the first place. “We have no disagreement about the suffering that’s going on in Gaza,” he said, regarding the Palestinian population there. “The problem we have here is, as we heard from both of these speakers, not one word was sa...
Thousands expected at Western Wall for Jerusalem Day 5785 (JNS) — The Western Wall Heritage Foundation is preparing to host tens of thousands of visitors for Jerusalem Day 5785, marking 58 years since the reunification of the city during the Six-Day War. Festivities begin Sunday evening with a public prayer service and the unfurling of a giant Israeli flag at the Western Wall Plaza, attended by senior religious and public officials. This year’s flag ceremony is dedicated to the memory of Eyal Chaimovsky, the late director of the Jerusalem Devel...
Israel's Yuval Raphael defied expectations to come in second in the annual Eurovision song contest on May 17, narrowly losing out to Austria after being buoyed by the popular vote but also drawing points from the juries in 14 countries. "Thank you, Europe! Am Yisrael chai!" Raphael shouted from the stage after her performance. Azerbaijan awarded Israel all 12 of the points its jury could give, in a departure from last year, when Israel did not win any country's full jury points. Azerbaijan is a...
(JTA) - Since 1540, a prestigious chain of scholars has held the title of the Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Cambridge. But not one of these scholars of Hebrew and Semitic studies was Jewish - until this year. In September 2025, Aaron Koller will become the first Jew to join the university's department of Middle Eastern Studies as the Regius Professor of Hebrew, a role established by King Henry VIII. Koller is packing up from New York City, where he has taught at Yeshiva...
(JNS) - After signing agreements with Saudi Arabia worth about $600 billion on May 13, U.S. President Donald Trump was expected to tout the deals that evening during a speech in Riyadh at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum. Instead, he broke news announcing a major shift in U.S. foreign policy, by saying that he intended to lift sanctions on Syria, which had been imposed during the regime of Basher Assad. "In Syria, which has seen so much misery and death, there's a new government that will...
Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed on Wednesday evening outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. The male victim was identified as Yaron Lischinsky. His final post on social media was a repost of a message condemning the United Nations' false claim that 14,000 infants in Gaza were facing imminent starvation, labeling it a modern-day blood libel. According to Israeli Ambassador to Berlin Ron Prosor, who taught him as a master student, Lischinsky was a Germany-born...
