Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(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
(JNS)-As many as 500 Christian students gathered in Jerusalem recently for a mega-event marking the Passages organization's fifth anniversary. With 8,000 students who have arrived in Israel so far, that number is expected to reach 10,000 by the end of next year. For many of the students, the Passages nine-day trip to Israel represented their first-ever visit to Israel. Throughout the experience, students discover the deep roots of Christianity in the place where that ancient faith was born,... Full story
TEANECK, N.J. (JTA)-Jason Greenblatt, President Donald Trump's former Middle East negotiator, made his first public speech since leaving the White House on Sunday night. Greenblatt, 52, who worked as a lawyer for Trump for two decades prior to joining the administration, spoke at Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck, New Jersey, the Modern Orthodox synagogue where he is a member. The event was raising money for a new Holocaust memorial in the township, which has a significant Jewish population.... Full story
(JNS)-Israel might be known globally as a high-tech juggernaut, but the "Startup Nation" is on the verge of being a superpower in diamonds as well. No, not the kinds that shine, but the kinds you use for pitching, catching and batting-as for the first time in history, the Israel men's national baseball team has qualified for the Summer Olympic Games to be held this summer in Tokyo. This past September, Israel stunned the competition by winning the "A" pool Olympic-qualifying tournament in... Full story
(JTA)-Walk into an Israeli post office or one of the many local stores that have lately been serving as ad-hoc delivery centers and you'll be confronted by a jumble of boxes sealed with the telltale black and blue packing tape from Amazon.com. Orders from the American online retail giant have surged here in recent weeks, following the launch of the company's Hebrew-language online storefront and the offer of free shipping from the United States. American immigrants to Israel have long relied on... Full story
(ISRAEL21c)—Israeli NGO IsraAID has sent a relief team to assess needs in Puerto Rico after a deadly 6.4 magnitude quake hit the Caribbean island on Tuesday. The quake, which killed one and flattened buildings in the southern part of the island, was the latest in a series of 100 or so tremors that have hit Puerto Rico over the last 10 days and show no signs of stopping. It was strongest quake to hit the island since 1918 and has caused widespread damage to a nation still recovering from Hurricane Maria in 2017. IsraAID, which has been o... Full story
Khalil Yusef Ali Jabarin, the terrorist who stabbed to death Ari Fuld, was convicted of murder by an Israeli military court on Monday morning. Jabarin stabbed Fuld outside a shopping center in Gush Etzion in September 2018. Fuld, though mortally wounded, heroically drew his gun, shooting and wounding the terrorist before he could harm others. Fuld then collapsed from his wounds. Efforts by first responders were unable to save him. The terrorist, Jabarin, is an 18-year-old resident of the town of Yatta, located south of Hebron in the... Full story
(ISRAEL21c)—The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo is collecting donations to help the Animal Rescue Collective purchase veterinary supplies for animals affected by wildfires in Victoria, Australia. “The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo and its staff are distressed by the horrific fires in Australia and the widespread devastation to its unique wildlife,” the zoological park announced Jan. 5. The bushfires began in New South Wales in September, where about 130 fires continue to burn, and have spread to Victoria, where some 31 blazes are burning. University of Sydne... Full story
(JNS)-New excavations by Israeli archaeologists suggest the existence of a 2,000-year-old Jerusalem market in the City of David, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday in a statement, i24News reported. Archaeologists and historians call the road that is being excavated under an eastern Jerusalem Arab neighborhood the "Stepped Street," also called the "Pilgrims' Path" or the "Pilgrimage Road." A rare ancient measuring table and dozens of stone measurement weights that were recently excavate... Full story
(JNS)—Following a preliminary hearing on Tuesday by Israel’s High Court of Justice on the question of whether an indicted lawmaker can be tasked with forming a government, a three-judge panel ruled that a decision will be handed down at a future date. The hearing followed a petition filed by 67 citizens with academic, security and culture backgrounds arguing that even though Israeli law allows a prime minister to continue serving in his position until proven guilty in court—and even until all appeals are exhausted—the same law should not per... Full story
(JTA)-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has won his party's leadership primary with 72.5 percent of the vote. Challenger Gideon Saar got 27.5 percent, according to Haaretz. Turnout for the primary was 57,677, or 49 percent of the total number of registered members. Saar, a popular Likud stalwart and former interior minister, had aimed to dethrone Netanyahu after the prime minister was twice unable to form a government following consecutive rounds of elections this year. Netanyahu's... Full story
(JNS)—An estimated 34,000 immigrants moved to Israel in 2019—the largest number per year in the past decade, according to numbers published by the Jewish Agency. The data includes those who immigrated during the period of January-November 2019 and the number of immigrants expected for December 2019. Through the end of November 2019, more than 32,600 immigrants arrived in Israel from around the world, an increase of 18 percent from the same period last year. The Jewish Agency data showed that more than 255,000 new immigrants moved to Israel in... Full story
JERUSALEM, Israel—Experts at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, an Israeli foreign affairs and defense think tank with close ties to the Israeli security establishment, believe that in 2020 Iran will escalate its enrichment of uranium and intensify brazen IRGC and Qods force operations against Western and Israeli targets. Israel, they say, must be ready to tackle Iran on its own and fight a pre-emptive warfare with Hizballah. On the other hand, Tehran could agree in the latter half of 2020 to talks with the U.S. on the n... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—A haredi Orthodox mother of five may have to give up her dream of running in the marathon at the 2020 Olympics after the race was scheduled for a Saturday. “I felt like I was punched in the stomach this morning,” Beatie Deutsch, 29, wrote late last week in a post on Facebook. According to the post, when Deutsch first decided to pursue her Olympic goal nearly a year ago, the first thing she did was check to make sure she would be able to participate. She was relieved to learn that the marathon was set for the last Sunday of th... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel will hold an unprecedented third election in less than a year after lawmakers failed to form a government coalition by Wednesday night. The date of the next election is set for March 2. Elections are usually set for 90 days after the dissolution of the Knesset, but as that would have put them on the Jewish holiday of Purim in 2020, legislators set the date a few days earlier. The government’s fall comes after both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White party head Benny Gantz were each unable to form a gov... Full story
(JNS)—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Thursday that he will resign from all of his ministerial posts by January. He currently holds the health, welfare, agriculture and Diaspora affairs portfolios. Three weeks ago, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced that Netanyahu’s indictment for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three corruption inquiries. Following that announcement, The Movement for Quality Government, an Israeli nonprofit and leading public petitioner to Israel’s Supreme Court, launched a pet... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—The Genesis Prize Foundation has announced that Natan Sharansky, a Jewish refusenik, prolific leader in the Soviet Jewry emigration movement and former Israeli politician, will be awarded the 2020 Genesis Prize. The Genesis Prize, dubbed the “Jewish Nobel,” was started in 2013 and is financed through a permanent $100 million endowment. The annual award honors “extraordinary individuals for their outstanding professional achievement, contribution to humanity and commitment to Jewish values.” Sharansky was selected to honor “hi... Full story
(JNS)—The last act of Israel’s short-lived 22nd Knesset was to set the date for new elections on March 2, a decision ultimately approved around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday. The bill passed with 94 lawmakers voting in favor and none opposed. It also granted parties tens of millions more shekels to spend on their campaigns—$124,000 per Knesset member and $200,000 per party—in its first and only piece of legislation. The figures represent a 30 percent increase over the funding for the previous election. Legislators explained that the smaller parties... Full story
(JTA)—The United Nations General Assembly passed five resolutions against Israel, but for the first time, 13 countries switched their positions and voted against a pro-Palestine measure. The five resolutions passed Tuesday are among 20 against Israel that the international body will vote on during the 74th session of the General Assembly. By contrast, it will consider resolutions about six other countries—one each on Iran, Syria, North Korea, Crimea, Myanmar and the United States (for its embargo on Cuba), the nongovernmental organization UN Wa... Full story
(JNS)—Right on schedule, by Chanukah, natural gas from Israel’s Leviathan offshore field will begin to flow to shore. The turn-around in Israel’s energy situation over the past two decades is simply stunning. Just 15 years ago, Israel met 100 percent of its energy needs with imported oil and coal. Today, the vast majority of Israel’s electricity is produced from its own natural-gas fields. With the Leviathan reserves coming online, projections are that within a few years, 85 percent of Israel’s electricity will be supplied from its own gas fiel... Full story
(JNS)—The announcement last month by U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo that Israeli settlements are not illegal was either warmly welcomed or hotly rejected, depending on how you interpret international law. Indeed, recently 107 Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Pompeo expressing “strong disagreement” with the State Department’s new policy and urged Pompeo to “reverse this policy decision immediately.” Dore Gold, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told JNS that Pompeo did a great service for Israel and for truth by stating tha... Full story
