Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Sunday that Israel does not seek to stay in Gaza, but to replace the Hamas regime with an expanded mialitary operation, and insisted that was the best way to bring the war to a speedy conclusion. “Our goal is not to occupy Gaza but to free Gaza,” Netanyahu said at a press conference for foreign media. “But no one is going to go in there unless we finish the job and finish Hamas.” He noted that Hamas still has thousands of armed terrorists after nearly two years of war in about a q...
(JNS) — In a world first, Israeli researchers have grown human kidney organoids — a synthetic 3D organ culture — from tissue stem cells in the laboratory mirroring human fetal kidney development, Tel Aviv University announced on Wednesday. The breakthrough allowing researchers to see the development of the organ in real time, isolate genes that lead to birth defects, develop new treatments in the field of regenerative medicine, and test the toxicity of drugs during pregnancy on fetal kidneys. The synthetic kidney grew and developed over six m...
(JNS) — Jewish sages in Late Antiquity were actively involved in the robust wine culture of the Roman-Byzantine world, according to an Israeli study released on Wednesday. The University of Haifa research reveals rabbinic familiarity with vine cultivation, and the integration of Jewish law into the broader agricultural traditions of the time. “The sages’ rulings were not detached from the realities in which they lived,” said Haifa University’s Shulamit Miller, a co-author of the study. “On the contrary, they reflect an intimate familiarity...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t want Israel to govern Gaza permanently, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) told JNS, amid reports that Netanyahu is considering a wider military operation in the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave. Gottheimer, who was part of a bipartisan congressional delegation to the Jewish state that met with Netanyahu on Wednesday, said that Israel is focused on defeating the terrorist group. “We talked about it as the ultimate goal of ensuring that we crush Hamas, and we can’t have leadership and governa...
(JNS) — Israel’s Security Cabinet was slated to meet Thursday night to decide on the continuation of the war on Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, with one option being a full-fledged occupation of the enclave. The ministers were set to gather at 6 p.m. at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem for the pivotal meeting and a subsequent vote. The session is scheduled to last until 11 p.m. but expected to last longer. A senior official told Ynet on Wednesday afternoon that while the Cabinet was expected to support the proposal to occupy Gaza...
(JNS) — The Israeli government approved a comprehensive aid package on Monday totaling some NIS 3.2 billion (about $940 million) for residents of southern Israel as part of a national initiative to rebuild communities devastated in the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023. The financial decision includes two main plans: one focused on strengthening and developing the city of Ashkelon, and the other on advancing the broader development of the western Negev region, according to a joint statement from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Min...
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Israel will have to make a decision on next steps in the war on Hamas, adding he did not know what would happen after the terrorists blew up the ceasefire negotiations. “You know, they had a routine discussion the other day and, all of a sudden, they hardened up,” he said of the talks, speaking alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland. Hamas “don’t want to give them back,” Trump said in reference to the remaining 50 hostages held in the Gaza Strip. “So...
(JNS) — Gal Gadot, the most prominent Israeli in Hollywood, met on Tuesday with five survivors of Hamas captivity in Gaza: Doron Steinbrecher, Liri Albag, Naama Levy, Moran Stella Yanai and Ilana Gritzewsky. The women recounted their harrowing experiences in the hands of the terrorist group, and called on Gadot to keep advocating for the release of the 50 people still believed to be in captivity 655 days after the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre. Steinbrecher urged Gadot: “Don’t stop. We must keep talking about the hostages and keep them in the publi...
Sunday was Israel’s hottest day so far this year, according to the Israel Meteorological Service. According to IMS data, the temperature at the Sodom weather station in the Dead Sea region reached a high of 46.5°C (115.7°F), just three degrees shy of the all-time record for the area. In the Jordan Valley and around the Sea of Galilee, temperatures ranged from 43°C to 44°C (109.4°F to 111.2°F). An extreme heat stress index was recorded in Tel Aviv, with the mercury hitting 33°C (91.4°F) and humidity levels soaring to 70 percent. The heatwave has...
(JNS) — The first-ever Israeli baby born to a woman who had undergone uterine transposition surgery was delivered at Rabin Medical Center’s Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah, the hospital announced on Wednesday. The newborn is only the sixth baby in the world born to a woman who has undergone the groundbreaking transposition procedure, it noted. Professor Ram Eitan, director of Beilinson’s Gynecologic Oncology Unit, who performed the uterine surgery in 2022, recently delivered the baby via Caesarean section, in what the medical center descr...
Part 1 of a series In recognition of 20 years since the Gaza pullout, JNS is featuring a five-part series of articles reflecting Israel's disengagement, speaking with an array of former Gush Katif residents to find out how they perceive the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Trump plan for the Gaza Strip and the prospect of returning. About two months into the Israel Defense Forces' invasion into the Gaza Strip as part of "Operation Swords of Iron" in retaliation of the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern...
Israel says its army is pausing military operations in some parts of Gaza for 10 hours a day to facilitate the distribution of aid to civilians. The announcement Sunday comes amid a global outcry about the hunger crisis in the Palestinian enclave where the IDF has been battling Hamas for more than 21 months. Israel also dropped supplies by air for the first time in the war on Sunday, while Egypt allowed aid to enter through its border with Gaza in a first for a period when hostilities are ongoing. In the first “humanitarian pause,” Israel said...
(JNS) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified Israel’s two-pronged strategic goal in Syria on Thursday — ensuring southern Syria is demilitarized and protecting the Druze of that region. Netanyahu defined southern Syria as an area running from the Golan Heights to Jabal al-Druze, a region encompassing nearly all of the as-Sweida Governorate, recently the site of massacres perpetrated by regime-linked Syrian forces against the Druze community. The Syrian regime violated both red lines, Netanyahu said. “It sent troops south of Damascu...
(JNS) - Redeemed Hamas hostage Liri Albag will return to her Israel Defense Forces service this week, in a "significant" capacity, her father said on Monday. Albag was abducted by Hamas from the military's Nahal Oz outpost during the terrorist group's Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack, and was kept in captivity in Gaza for 477 days. She was released as part of a ceasefire deal in January. "She's not scared of anything," her father, Eli Albag, told Israel's Reshet Bet radio station, according to...
(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces failed to protect Ofakim, a city of some 40,000 residents located 12.5 miles west of Beersheva, during the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre led by Hamas, an internal investigation report released by the military on Monday concludes. The investigation further found that the bravery and quick battle engagements of police officers, civilians and soldiers on the scene were the primary reasons the killing spree was halted at a relatively early stage. Fifteen Palestinian terrorists from Gaza invaded Ofakim a l...
In his first media interview since his return to Israel, former captive Ofer Kalderon gave a harrowing account of being held hostage in Gaza, the trauma of being separated from his children and his meeting with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, whom the Israel Defense Forces later killed. "You're alive physically, but you feel dead," he told journalist Yael Odem on Israeli Channel 12's "Ulpan Shishi" program aired on Friday night. "Everything you were before - erased." Kalderon, 54, was freed,...
(JNS) — Any ceasefire or post-war arrangement regarding Gaza must meet specific criteria outlined by the government, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said on Sunday. “Three essential goals, as defined by the Cabinet, must be achieved,” Karhi told JNS. “First, the return of all hostages; second, the elimination of Hamas’s governing and military capabilities; and third, ensuring that the Gaza Strip no longer poses a threat to the State of Israel.” He added that, beyond these objectives, U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to r...
(JNS) - Argentinian President Javier Milei started his official state visit to Israel on Monday with an emotional pledge at Jerusalem's Western Wall that he will "always stand" with the Jewish state, which he called "the cause of the West." The Argentine leader, who is on his second visit to Israel in as many years and has emerged as one of Israel's most vocal supporters around the globe, reinforced that message at the Jerusalem holy site. "I want you to know that my support for Israel comes fro...
(JNS) — Last Friday, some 250 motorcycle enthusiasts rode 250 miles, from Tel Aviv to northern Israel, along the border with Lebanon, and back. They were demonstrating support for Israel, the Israel Defense Forces and especially communities in the north impacted during the Swords of Iron War by Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist organization. The event was organized by the Rolling Thunder of South Florida motorcycle riders’ club, a pro-Israel U.S.-based group dedicated to strengthening Israel, the U.S.-Israel alliance and combating antis...
The events of Oct. 7, 2023, the worst atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust and a national trauma for Israel, has changed the face of the Middle East. Amid national mourning and societal upheaval, the country’s life sciences and health-tech sectors have responded with remarkable agility and resilience. What could have paralyzed innovation has instead catalyzed it, leading to breakthroughs in clinical care, health technology, and global collaboration. Innovation under pressure In 2024, private investment in Israeli life s...
(JNS) - Israeli landmarks honored the United States on Sunday with gestures of gratitude following the American military's aerial operation against Iran's nuclear facilities early that morning. The front of the Knesset building was illuminated in red, white and blue, while the ceremonial plaza was adorned with American flags. An honor guard was stationed at the site, with the participation of Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana. "On behalf of the Knesset, which represents all the citizens of Israel, I...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday prayed at the Western Wall, Judaism’s second-holiest site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, giving thanks for the United States joining the war against Iran. Netanyahu visited the site alongside Shmuel Rabinovitch, the rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Places, and Mordechai “Suli” Eliav, director of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. The prime minister recited a special prayer for U.S. President Donald Trump, known in Hebrew as Hanoten teshuah (“He who grants deliverance”), asking that God...
(JNS) - A year after the horrors of Oct. 7, 2023, when 1,200 Israelis were brutally murdered and 252 taken hostage by Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a new phase in the war. He said the operation known as "Swords of Iron" now bears a far older, deeper name: "The War of Tkuma." In Hebrew, tkuma means resurrection - a word rooted in Jewish memory, struggle and renewal. This wasn't just a rebranding. It was a signal. With the symbolic conclusion of shiva - the seven-day Je...
(JNS) — Amid the devastation of recent missile attacks, the rescue of babies has become a poignant symbol of hope. A heartfelt video from Thursday in Ramat Gan captures a father’s reunion with his infant son, passed to him by rescuers after the massive Iranian barrage at around 7:30 a.m. “Hand him to me, all is well, my boy is OK, come to Mommy, such a smile,” he said, his voice breaking as he held his child, saved from a direct missile strike on their building. In another part of central Israel, rescuers freed a baby girl from the wreckag...
JAFFA, Israel - It was after 2 a.m. by the time I finally fell asleep, after yet another siren sent us scrambling to the safe room in our Jaffa apartment, which has transitioned - at least for this iteration of war - into a kind of Japanese-style tatami bed, sprawling mattresses wall-to-wall. Three hours later, I woke up inexplicably and saw the door was open. One of the kids was missing. Bleary-eyed, I went searching and found my middle son curled up asleep on my bed. I carried him back and...
