Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1136 - 1160 of 1222
“This is the biggest victory of my life,” Netanyahu said, according to Israeli news website N12, after winning 60 Knesset seats, one short of a majority. Last September, Likud won 56 seats—not a majority, which led to the third elections. “Together we did the impossible,” the prime minister added, saying, “Together, we turned Israel into a superpower,” citing growing relations with Arab and Muslim countries and promising to sign peace treaties with them. Netanyahu also promised to secure future generations by annexing parts of the West Bank... Full story
Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis told the Jerusalem Post that Israeli scientists are on the cusp of developing the first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. If all goes as planned, the vaccine could be ready within a few weeks and available in 90 days, according to a release. “Congratulations to MIGAL [The Galilee Research Institute] on this exciting breakthrough,” Akunis said. “I am confident there will be further rapid progress, enabling us to provide a needed response to the grave global COVID-19 threat,” Akunis said, referri... Full story
(JNS)-At least 14 Palestinian rockets rained down on southwestern Israel on Monday, with one striking and damaging a playground in the town of Sderot and another shattering a car windshield in Nir Am. Twelve of the rockets intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air-defense system, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The rocket fire was a continuation of Sunday's attacks, which saw some 30 projectiles launched at Israel. The attacks were claimed by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Iron Dome is... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Over 200 Israelis, most of them middle school students, have been ordered into quarantine after coming into contact with a group of South Korean tourists, some of whom were infected with the coronavirus. Students and teachers from three Israeli cities have been ordered by the Health Ministry to self-quarantine in their homes after visiting tourist sites at the same time as the group from South Korea. Nine members of the group, who returned home last week after a two-week visit to Israel, have since tested positive for c... Full story
(JTA)—The owner of a toy shop near Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport infected his wife with the coronavirus, bringing the number of known cases in that country to three. The man, who was not named, spent about 30 hours at the Red Pirate costume shop at the height of costume sales for the holiday of Purim in Yehuda, a suburb of Tel Aviv that borders on the airport’s perimeter fence, The Marker reported Friday. He also attended services at the synagogue of Irus, a town near Rehovot. The man, who earlier this week became the first Israeli diagn... Full story
(JNS)-For months, the Israeli government has pursued the objective of trying to stabilize the Gaza Strip. It tried to reach new truce understandings with Hamas through indirect negotiations-brokered by the Egyptians and others-and avoid a new war. But the latest incidents show that the goal of stabilizing Gaza is growing increasingly distant by the day. On Sunday, Palestinian Islamic Jihad attempted to carry out a border bomb attack, which was foiled successfully by the Israel Defense Forces,... Full story
(ISRAEL21c)-Israel-based company Watergen has begun supplying water to a Gazan neighborhood via its water-from-air machine that can generate up to 800 liters per day. Watergen's 780-kilogram GEN-M atmospheric water generator was placed last Wednesday in the Gazan neighborhood of Abasan al-Kabira. It will provide the local municipal building with fresh drinking water. Gaza suffers from a rapidly depleting water supply. Its main source of water is its coastal aquifer, which has been... Full story
(JNS)—Foreigners who recently traveled to countries in Asia where the coronavirus has spread will be barred from entering Israel, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri announced on Monday. Deri said that guidelines by Israel’s Ministry of Health and general concerns about the possibility of an outbreak in Israel was behind the move, according to a report by i24 New. The new restriction will come into force in the coming days and be for foreigners who have traveled within the last two weeks to Thailand, Macau, Hong Kong and Singapore. Israel has alr... Full story
(JNS)—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial will start on March 17, just two weeks after Israel holds its third election in less than a year, the country’s Justice Ministry announced on Tuesday. The Justice Ministry said the trial will begin on March 17 at 3 p.m. The prime minister will be required to attend the Jerusalem District Court for the first session to hear the indictments against him. On Jan. 28, Netanyahu was formally indicted by Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, where he faces charges on fraud... Full story
In a first-ever for Israel and the IDF, recently a Christian Israeli Arab enlisted as an Israeli Air Force cadet. Nationally, only 10 percent of cadets who begin the prestigious course graduate and earn their pilot wings. Yet, for this Christian Arab, whose name cannot be revealed for security reasons, just passing the rigorous medical, physical, and psychological tests is a historic achievement to be celebrated, with wide implications throughout Israeli society. “This is a proud day for Israel’s army,” stated Dr. John A.I. Grossman, chair... Full story
NEW YORK, NY—The Hadassah Foundation, a nonprofit organization that awards grants to social change programs that empower women and girls in Israel and the United States, is pleased to announce $330,000 in new grants. The recipients are six organizations in Israel that increase opportunities for women and girls of all backgrounds to obtain and advance in decision-making positions. Co-Chair of The Hadassah Foundation Israel Grants Committee Diane Sigel exclaims: “The expertise and ingenuity reflected in this year’s Israel grant recipients is rema... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-As evening descended on Jerusalem one Friday last month, 1,000 students gathered at the Western Wall for the traditional prayers to welcome the Jewish Sabbath. They joined the throngs who dance and sing at the holiest site in Judaism as Shabbat begins. When it was over, they repaired to the homes of local families for a traditional Shabbat meal with all the customary trappings. For many, it was a highlight of a trip to Israel that had cost them almost nothing. Except these were... Full story
(JNS)-The quick succession of Palestinian attacks on Israeli security forces in the past 24 hours appears to be a chain reaction of unorganized incidents, each one forming the "inspiration" for the next attacker and each attack forming a link in the terrorist chain. The goal of Israel's security forces now is to cut that chain and freeze the momentum of incidents before they snowball into a wider wave of violence that will be far more difficult to control. In a joint operation launched by the... Full story
(JTA)-Like many parents when their small children are a bit under the weather, Ofer Dekel measures his boy's temperature frequently. But in Dekel's case, his concern for his son Liam is exacerbated by living at the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic: Wuhan, China. Dekel, a 56-year-old businessman originally from Haifa, Israel, has lived in Wuhan for many years with his Chinese wife, Nana, who is the mother of his two youngest children, both of whom are under 10. Authorities have placed the... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—Jared Kushner didn’t realize his father-in-law was serious about running for president until Donald Trump asked his daughter Ivanka, Kushner’s wife, to help launch his campaign. That’s one revelation in Kushner’s exclusive interview with the Orthodox weekly Ami Magazine about his role in the Trump administration. We took a look at the full interview (available only in print or online with a subscription) and five things stood out. Kushner didn’t know he’d be working on a peace plan, either Apparently the president asked Kushner... Full story
(JTA)-The Trump administration put questions about the seriousness of its Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal to rest Tuesday by delivering a 181-page, detail-laden document that outlines a clear-if one-sided-vision for the future of the region. The document includes sections on history, security and economics, among others. We've got a roundup of the most important details here. But the quickest way to make sense of the plan might be to skip to pages 41 and 42. That's where you can find two "con... Full story
Jewish Academy of Orlando partnered with PJ Library Greater Orlando to bring the community, "#beeyourselfie," a day that celebrated every child's uniqueness. The fun-filled morning started with a story time led by JAO Head of School Alan Rusonik and a "selfie" photo session with JAO's beloved mascot, "Mac the Bee." Later the families started their exploration of what makes each person unique. Each child was provided a passport. The passport guided families to travel between three different... Full story
(JTA)—President Donald Trump unveiled his long-awaited Middle East peace plan on Tuesday, and the release event was a doozy. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined Trump at a news conference and compared it to President Harry Truman’s recognition of the State of Israel in 1948. Netanyahu also snuck in the fact that as part of the plan’s starting framework, he will look to apply Israeli sovereignty over territory that much of the international community considers illegally occupied. In the most basic sense, the plan is a two-s... Full story
(JTA)—Reactions to President Donald Trump’s Israeli-Palestinian peace plan unveiled Tuesday took a predictable path, with Jewish groups on the right praising the much-anticipated proposal and those on the left criticizing it. The proposal, which Trump presented at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would give Israel the Jordan Valley and parts of the West Bank while freezing for four years the areas that the U.S. proposes as part of a future Palestinian state. A Palestinian state would be made up of Gaza and the... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Israeli President Reuven Rivlin assailed Polish complicity in the murder of European Jews during the Holocaust during a visit to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Speaking at a joint appearance Monday with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Krakow, Rivlin said that both Jews and Poles were victims during World War II. He then launched into a subtle rebuke of recent efforts to rewrite Poland's wartime history. "Poland, the place where the Jewish people flouri... Full story
(JTA)-President Donald Trump's long-awaited peace plan has been met with plenty of skepticism since its release on Tuesday. Could Trump actually be the one to settle a decades old conflict where so many other American presidents have failed, with a plan that was devised without consulting the Palestinians? But some critics zeroed in on a much more specific aspect of the plan: the proposed high-speed railway connecting the West Bank and Gaza, the two geographically distinct territories of a... Full story
(JNS)—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has perhaps never looked more subtly elated on any previous visit to the White House than he did on Tuesday. He and U.S. President Donald Trump, the friendliest-ever president toward Israel in U.S. history, stood side by side in the announcement of the friendliest vision Israel has ever seen regarding its borders and its future. Relief that the long-anticipated diplomatic part of the peace plan was revealed to the public for the first time was palpable. So, too, was the fact that this as the f... Full story
(JNS)-With campaigns under way before the third round of Israeli elections within a year on March 2, Likud officials, and the Blue and White Party, have repeatedly made statements over the past few weeks in favor of annexing the Jordan Valley. And that has elicited vocal reactions among the public both for and against the idea. The Trump administration's peace plan, revealed at the White House on Jan. 28 with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in attendance, gave American approval for... Full story
(JTA)—As part of President Donald Trump’s proposed plan for Middle East peace unveiled Tuesday, Israel says it will “apply its laws” to the Jordan Valley and Israeli settlements in the West Bank. At a news conference with Trump at the White House discussing the broad outlines of the plan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will otherwise “maintain the status quo” territorially for at least four years. Application of Israeli law to parts of the West Bank would signal a major change to the territory and the contours of... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—A major gathering of world leaders in Jerusalem meant to highlight the world’s determination to learn the lessons of the Holocaust has become mired in controversy, dragging Israel into a battle over history debates still raging in Europe three-quarters of a century after the end of World War II. Some 46 presidents, princes and prime ministers converged on the Israeli capital on Thursday for the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, an event organized by President Reuven Rivlin, Yad Vashem and the Israeli Foreign Ministry to com... Full story
