Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1061 - 1085 of 1222
(JTA) - At a moment when the world could use a dose of hope, along comes Rabbi Yehuda "Yudi" Dukes. In late March, Dukes was hospitalized in New York with COVID-19, a week after the otherwise healthy 38-year-old rabbi took ill at his Long Island home. Dukes spent a whopping four months on a ventilator, including nine weeks on an artificial lung machine. He endured four collapsed lungs, experienced a stroke and underwent a liver biopsy, among other challenges. He is believed to be among the...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) - In just 10 days, Israel's "Light Blade" laser system, deployed on the Gaza border, downed 150 explosives-laden balloons launched toward Israel from the Hamas-controlled territory, according to Israel's Border Police, which operates the system. However, Israel's only deployed Light Blade system covers just a small part of the Gaza Strip, and while it's interception rate stands at close to 100 percent, Palestinians in other parts of Gaza continue to launch balloon-borne...
(JNS) — According to Israel’s Coronavirus Project coordinator, Ronni Gamzu, his main goal right now is to combat and contain the virus “without implementing a full lockdown on the country.” “I am not sure we will succeed, but I am trying,” he said. He made his remarks in a briefing to the foreign press this week. Gamzu, who in the past served as the Health Ministry director general, was appointed to the role in July by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein. He told reporters at the briefing that despit...
(JNS) - Israeli archaeologists have announced that they have unearthed a 1,300-year-old Byzantine-era church in the Lower Galilee in the village of Kfar Kama near Mount Tabor, which Christians believe is the Mount of Transfiguration where Jesus performed one his miracles. The excavation was conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority, in collaboration with the Kinneret Academic College and local volunteers. The head of the Greek Catholic Church in Israel also personally visited the site,...
Physicians at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem report promising early results of a clinical study in which they are treating Covid-19 patients with immunoglobulin derived from the plasma of recovered patients found to have high levels of antibodies. The serum is prepared by Rehovot-based biopharmaceutical company Kamada. Three patients have already received the serum and are doing well, according to Dr. Yaron Ilan, chief of internal medicine at Hadassah University Medical Center....
(JTA) — In a diplomatic breakthrough, Israel and the United Arab Emirates are normalizing ties. The deal was finalized in a phone call on Thursday, Aug. 13, between President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi. In a joint statement by the United States, Israel and UAE posted by Trump on Twitter, it said that this was a “historic diplomatic breakthrough” and will “advance peace in the Middle East.” As part of a peace deal, Israel will pause its plans to...
(JNS) - A joint statement by U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, announcing the "Abraham Accord," a peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, is the first since Jordan signed such an agreement in 1994. What does this deal include, and what does it portend for the future? Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS that "the peace agree...
Vaccinations against Tuberculosis administered in the last 15 years may provide additional protection against COVID-19 to people under 24 years of age, according to a new study published recently in the medical journal Vaccines. Dr. Nadav Rappoport of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev collaborated with colleagues from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to analyze the correlation between different countries’ policies for the Bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccine for tuberculosis and countries’ COVID-19 outcomes. As explained in a BGU press rele...
(JNS) - As it conducts its mission to defend southern Israeli communities and vital strategic sites, the Israel Navy is also engaged in a quiet arms race with Israel's adversaries in the Gaza Strip - namely, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. A senior IDF source told JNS about the ongoing activities of the Ashdod Naval Base, which is responsible for a substantial part of Israel's coastal waters, stretching from central Israel to southern Gaza. This area of jurisdiction, known as the Ashdod...
Arab arsonists set fire to the ancient Susya archaeological site in Judea during Tisha B'Av. "This is among the activities of our 'peaceful neighbors' when they aren't building on our land," said Natalie Sopinsky, a resident of Susya. The fire spread threatening the old synagogue ruins. Israel firefighters battled the blaze and saved the synagogue, which had a special place in Jewish history. It served as a refuge for Jews following the revolt against Romans, led by Bar Kochva. The...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he had agreed to support legislation that would delay the collapse of the government by putting off the deadline for passing the state budget. The bill, proposed by the Derech Eretz faction comprising Knesset members Yoaz Hendel and Zvi Hauser, seeks to extend the Aug. 25 deadline for passing a state budget, buying more time for Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz to work out their differences over it. The bill will be brought to the Knesset for a vote on W...
REHOVOT, Israel - Despite their reputation, most bacteria are harmless. Many are vital to human life. Others, however, cause infections that lead to fatal diseases ranging from tuberculosis to bubonic plague. Add cancer to that list, at least indirectly. According to new research led by Dr. Ravid Straussman of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, bacteria living inside cancer cells are likely to have a profound effect on how different types of tumors behave. "Most bacteria you find in...
(JNS) - In excavations in Jerusalem near the U.S. embassy conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority, more than 120 of some of the largest and most important collections of seal impressions stamped on jars were discovered, revealing information into tax collection in the period of the Judean monarchs some 2,700 years ago. The impressions were stamped with the letters "LMLK" - meaning "to the King" - and were written in ancient Hebrew script, along with the name of the ancient city in the King...
(JNS) - According to the U.N. Trade and Development Commission, some 95 percent of Gaza's groundwater supply is found to be unfit for consumption. The Gaza Strip suffers from a water shortage in general and a drinking water shortage in particular. Israeli-Palestinian cooperation, including the Watergen Company, the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and Palestinian partners, delivered its first generator, which produces clean drinking water from the atmosphere, to the Municipality of...
TEL AVIV (JTA) - Noam Ofer might have been an unlikely candidate to join Israel's burgeoning protest movement. At 76, he is older than most of the people who have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis. He also doesn't share the political views of many of the protesters. But Ofer was there anyway on Tuesday evening marching outside the Tel Aviv home of Israel's internal security minister in charge of law enforcement, Amir Ohana, who wa...
(ISRAEL21c) - Remember when pollution was our worst respiratory worry? Now, scientists say airborne virus particles may be the main cause of Covid-19 infections. In the face of new evidence, the World Health Organization has changed its tune about the virus not being transmitted through air. "WHO, together with the scientific community, has been actively discussing and evaluating whether SARS-CoV-2 may also spread through aerosols ... particularly in indoor settings with poor ventilation," the...
(JNS) - In somewhat of a role reversal, Israel has emerged during the global coronavirus crisis as the main supporter of Jewish communities worldwide. In a Wednesday briefing with Jewish Agency for Israel chairman Isaac Herzog and other leaders, including those from Italy, France, Argentina and South Africa, Herzog maintained that "there is a common table between the government of Israel and the Diaspora... the coronavirus affects the stability and well-being of community institutions all...
(ISRAEL21c) - Could a well-known cholesterol-lowering drug help treat Covid-19? A research team led by Hebrew University of Jerusalem Prof. Yaakov Nahmias says that early research looks promising. Over the last three-months, Nahmias and Dr. Benjamin tenOever at New York's Mount Sinai Medical Center have focused on the ways in which the SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus that's causing our current pandemic) changes patients' lungs in order to reproduce itself. Their major finding is that this virus...
(JNS) — The “Ofek 16” spy satellite launched from central Israel at 4 a.m. on Monday (July 6) morning is due to significantly upgrade Israel’s ability to monitor the dangerous activities of its adversaries throughout the Middle East, foremost among them Iran. The satellite was launched successfully by the Defense Ministry and Israel Aerospace Industries following years of research and development, and a working schedule that in recent months had to be adapted to restrictions created by the coronavirus pandemic. IAI officials said they viewed...
This summer, like the past nine summers, I am the Susya pool lifeguard. Everyday my day starts at 6:30 a.m. Our summers here in Har Hevron are slow and easy. Not much goes on. That is a blessing. In the summer of 2017, right on the first day of summer vacation, there was a terrible tragedy in nearby Kiryat Arba. Some of you may remember, a beautiful 8th grade girl was stabbed to death in her bed. The day before this horror, the 8th grade class of girls was at the pool for their class...
(JTA) - Since April, all eyes following the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were glued to July 1. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had negotiated the date into his government coalition deal with his rival Benny Gantz. On July 1, as stipulated in the agreement, Netanyahu could put the topic of annexing the West Bank - a move that would have enormous political repercussions well beyond the Middle East - up for a vote in his Cabinet or in the Knesset, Israel's parliament. But on Tuesday,...
(JNS) - A double stamp impression on a bulla and a seal made of used pottery shreds discovered in the City of David may indicate that despite the plight of Jerusalem after the destruction of the First Temple, efforts were made to restore the stature of the administrative authorities. The archaeological evidence revealed in excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University in the Givati Parking Lot Excavation of the City of David may provide evidence of the restoration of...
JERUSALEM (JTA) — With the date set by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to begin annexing West Bank territory days away, the Palestinians appear ready to restart peace negotiations with Israel. A four-page letter from the Palestinian Authority sent to the so-called Quartet — the diplomatic grouping of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia — said it was “ready to resume direct bilateral negotiations where they stopped,” according to AFP. The French news agency reported that it saw the text on Monday bu...
(JNS) — As the debate over whether or not Israel should apply sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria intensifies as the proposed July timeline for instituting the decision approaches, a new report by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) says that the extension of Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley would actually “advance” U.S. national security interests. “Our conclusion is that the Jordan Valley is of immense strategic importance to Israel’s security, Jordan’s security and to the stability of the Middle East...
(JNS) — Tel Aviv University’s free online cybersecurity course has been ranked the top online cybersecurity course in the world by Class Central, a website which compares reviews of online university training platforms around the world. The “Unlocking Information Security” course, which covers topics such as cryptography, security of identification systems, attacks and defenses on the internet, as well as viruses and other malware, is already in use by students in 150 countries. It was launched by professor Avishai Wool and Dan Gittik in coop...
