Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1191 - 1215 of 1222
(JTA)—Fifty-eight Israelis were injured during the wave of rocket attacks fired by terror groups from Gaza this week. Thirty-four Palestinians, most of them reported to be members of Islamic Jihad and other Gaza terror groups, were killed in retaliatory strikes. The attacks cost the Israeli economy $315 million and three homes were directly hit, the consulate general of Israel in New York said in a statement Thursday. After the Israel Defense Forces killed two Palestinian Islamic Jihad senior commanders—Baha Abu al-Ata and Rasmi Abu Mal... Full story
Under normal circumstances, most kids look for excuses to stay home from school, at least once in a while. This week in Israel, 300,000 kids stayed home from school a few days in a row. Under the circumstances, they'd probably rather have been in school. Beginning early Tuesday, Palestinian Arab terrorists fired more than 400 rockets at Israeli communities from Gaza, forcing schools and businesses to close in order to prevent too many people gathering in any one place, despite bomb shelters... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—A rocket fired by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza struck an assisted-living facility in the southern Israel city of Ashkelon on Wednesday afternoon, injuring a woman in her 70s. The resident was injured in the face and arms by flying glass after the rocket crashed through her living unit. The Israeli military said 360 rockets had been fired at Israel from Gaza between Tuesday morning—since its targeted killing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad senior commander Baha Abu al-Ata—and about 5 p.m. Wednesday. Two Israelis have been injur... Full story
(JNS, Israel Hayom)—“The new rules of the game are clear—the IDF will operate freely, without any limitation,” Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said on Thursday, a short while after a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad went into effect, ending two days of intense rocket-fire from the Gaza Strip. Bennett, who took up his post as defense minister on Tuesday as rockets fell across central and southern Israel following the targeted killing of PIJ commander Baha Abu al-Ata, singled out residents of the country... Full story
After Israel killed a top commander from the Iranian-backed Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in a rare targeted strike in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the group's leader said that Israel has pushed the group "to go to war." Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a statement saying, "These terrorist crimes are aggression and a declaration of war on the Palestinian people, and the enemy bears for responsibility for them." Additionally, Secretary-General Ziad al-Nakhala of the Palestinian... Full story
With little progress otherwise reported toward forming a new Israeli government, one point of agreement which is said to exist between Likud and Blue and White is over Israel’s right to claim sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea area. Before the September 17 Knesset election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he intended to immediately annex the Jordan Valley if he is re-elected. “In Blue and White, they are prepared to begin a process of imposing Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dea... Full story
(JNS)-Palestinian Islamic Jihad-the second-largest armed terror faction in Gaza after Hamas-is agitating for violence, and is in fact the organization that conducted Friday-night's rocket barrage on the Israeli border city of Sderot. It appears as if the commander of the PIJ's northern Gaza brigade-a terror chief named Baha Abu Al Atta-is directly behind the latest rocket fire that targeted Israeli civilians. The Iron Dome air-defense system intercepted most of the incoming rockets, though one... Full story
(JNS)—As Iranians took to the streets this week to commemorate 40 years since the U.S. embassy takeover in 1979, Iran announced new violations of the nuclear deal it signed in 2015. The rogue Islamic Republic admitted that it now operates 60 advanced IR-6 centrifuges and is working on a new type of centrifuge that will work 50 times faster than what is currently permitted under the deal. This announcement comes after Iran has engaged in attacks on oil tankers and Saudi oil facilities, shooting down an American drone, and, of course, its ongoing... Full story
(JNS)-Benny Gantz and the Blue and White Party are hard at work trying to find other parties to join his coalition to give him the 61 mandates needed to form a government. Much talk has centered on the possibility that he would form a minority government with the support of the Joint Arab List. Yariv Levin, Likud Tourism Minister and chief negotiator in coalition talks, told JNS that "Blue and White has not ruled out the option of a minority government with the Arab parties." On Sunday, Gantz... Full story
A Kurdish refugee toddler-we'll call him Ajwan, for security reasons-is the latest of 44 Iraqi and Syrian Kurdish children who've had emergency medical treatment at Israel's Sheba Medical Center in 2019 alone. Ajwan, three and a half, had lifesaving open-heart surgery that wasn't available in Iraqi Kurdistan, where his family has been living for a few years due to the dangers the community faces in northern Syria. "I was not afraid to come to Israel, even though I was warned I could lose my... Full story
(JTA)—As of Wednesday morning, Israel’s embassies and consulates across the globe are on strike. “No consular services will be provided and no one will be allowed to enter,” one ambassador posted on Twitter. Those services include passport renewal and assistance to Israelis living abroad. Why has Israel’s entire foreign service shut down? In a word: taxes. Israeli diplomats get lump-sum expense stipends meant to cover a range of personal and official expenses. The Finance Ministry now says it wants the diplomats to submit individual receipts... Full story
Shir Tabac had always yearned for a dog, but it wasn't until she completed her military service and went to college that she felt ready to make the commitment. "It was the first time I was living independently, and I wondered how I could have a dog and do something good at the same time," said Tabac, now a third-year chemistry student at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. "I realized that volunteering to train a guide dog was the perfect plan." Within a month of arriving at the... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Benny Gantz said Wednesday that he will aim to form a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party to "repair the divisions in our society." "I promised I would form a liberal unity government and that is what I intend to do," Gantz said. The Blue and White party leader made the remarks after being officially tasked by President Reuven Rivlin with forming a government. After accepting the mandate at Rivlin's official residence in Jerusalem, Gantz commented, "I... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Carved into the rock on the side of a mountain directly under the Har HaMenuchot cemetery here lies the entrance to Jerusalem's newest necropolis, a city of the dead that its designers hope will relieve a shortage of burial space in the capital. A local engineering firm and Jerusalem's largest burial society have devised a plan to radically change how Jerusalemites dispose of their dead by building a modern system of burial caves, a throwback to a practice discontinued some two... Full story
Two days shy of his 28-day time limit to establish a government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that he cannot form a coalition and that he is returning the mandate to do so to President Reuven Rivlin, paving the way for Benny Gantz, leader of Kahol Lavan (Blue and White party) to try to create a government. Gantz will have 28 days to try to form a coalition. What happens if the Gantz-led coalition talks also fail? Then any lawmaker backed by a majority of at least 61 Knes... Full story
(JNS)-This year, more than 5,000 Christians from all parts of the world gathered on Thursday for the city's annual Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) festive march around Israel's capital, which saw 10,000 participants in total. The Jerusalem municipality organized and funded the march and entertainment events, with participants coming to Israel from 100 nations. The arrival of the Christian pilgrims, who come annually to Israel for Sukkot, was facilitated in part by the International Christian Embas... Full story
(Israel Hayom via JNS)-Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has ordered his office to draw up plans to stop the Turkish government's efforts to undermine Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem and protect Jordan's special status as guardian of Muslim holy sites in the city. Katz intends to present the plan to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu soon. Due to the sensitivity of the plan, the implementation of which will almost certainly lead to a direct confrontation with Ankara, it is also... Full story
(JNS)—Eagles’ Wings, a nonprofit New York-based evangelical movement, hosted a “Global Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem” on Sunday, bringing together 70 millennial pastors from the United States, Canada and Brazil to Israel, many for the first time, along with their followers. Additionally, more than 500,000 evangelical Christian churches worldwide tuned in as GOD TV broadcasted the event to more than 260 million homes globally. Government, religious and business leaders, including other major Jewish and Christian global leaders... Full story
(Israel Hayom via JNS)-A 5,000-year-old metropolis, the largest uncovered in Israel to date, has been excavated near Ein Iron, northeast of Hadera. The city, which dates back to the Early Bronze Age (the end of the fourth century BCE), was surrounded by walls and included residential and public areas, streets and alleyways. It had an area of 161 acres and was home to an estimated 6,000 residents. The Bronze Age metropolis was constructed on the remains of an even earlier city that dates back 7,0... Full story
(Israel Hayom via JNS)-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Wednesday with leaders of parties from the right-wing bloc to discuss the future of negotiations to form a unity government after talks with Blue and White went south, with the center-left list pulling out of the most recent scheduled meeting to, in its officials' own words, "weaken" Netanyahu. During the meeting, the possibility of Netanyahu giving up his mandate from President Reuven Rivlin to form the next government was... Full story
(JNS)-The Arab Israeli public came out in force during the second round of elections on Sept. 17, and according to an Arab Knesset member and others, was motivated to prevent the formation of a right-wing government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also heads the Likud Party. On Wednesday, the Joint Arab List announced that it will boycott Thursday's swearing-in ceremony for the new Knesset as part of a general strike among Arab Israelis to protest what they say is the... Full story
(JNS)-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pre-indictment hearing began on Wednesday after three years of investigation. Netanyahu, who did not attend the hearing, is seeking to convince Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and state prosecutors not to indict him on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases, labeled in Israel as Case 1000, Case 2000 and Case 4000. Attorney Avi Himi, who heads the Israel Bar Association, told JNS that "the hearing process is... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Demi Lovato had gushed about her “magical” visit to Israel, saying she felt a “sense of spirituality” there. Now the 27-year-old pop star and actress is apologizing to those who may have been offended by her trip. In Israel, Lovato made three posts earlier this week on Instagram, where she has 74 million followers, speaking glowingly of the country. “Entertainment Tonight” reported that reactions to those posts included criticism from accusing her of promoting or supporting Israel despite the country’s treatment of the Palestini... Full story
TEL AVIV-Shlomit Norman was only 42 when doctors diagnosed her with multiple myeloma-a bone marrow cancer with no known cure that rarely strikes people under the age of 65. At the time, the youngest of her three boys was 10, and few patients with the disease survived for more than a couple of years. "I told my best friend that she'd have to be in charge of my son's bar mitzvah because I didn't think I'd be around by then," recalled Norman, who lives in Haifa. But thanks to some innovative... Full story
(JNS) With negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, failing to form a national unity government, Israel's President Reuven Rivlin ultimately choose Netanyahu as having the best chance to form a government within the next 28 days. However, with Netanyahu only garnering support of only 55 Knesset members-six short of a governing majority-it appears that Israel's political deadlock will continue with both sides blaming one another for th... Full story
