Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Jewish Federations of North America and its predecessor organizations have had a longstanding policy of not officially traveling beyond Israel’s 1967 borders. In reality, however, representatives have already done so. Top leaders of JFNA held a secretive meeting Wednesday to approve changing its policy of not traveling into Judea and Samaria to visit Jewish settlements or Palestinian communities. The conference call was led by JFNA Chairman Richard Sandler, who is executive vice president of the Milken Family Foundation in Los Angeles. P... Full story
Danielle Berrin slams Ari Shavit for not apologizing for ‘committing sexual assault’ (JTA)—Jewish-American reporter Danielle Berrin slammed prominent Israeli journalist Ari Shavit for not admitting and apologizing for allegedly sexually assaulting her. “As recounted in my article, he engaged in physically aggressive behavior—grabbing the back of my head, lurching at me for a kiss, pulling and pawing at me, and pressuring me to enter his hotel room,” she wrote in a response published Friday in the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles. She added: “Thr... Full story
JERUSALEM—Israel could have done a better job of enlisting Christian allies in its efforts to prevent the United Nations from passing a resolution erasing the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount and Western Wall, one South African legislator claims. Speaking with JNS.org in Hebron Wednesday, MP Kenneth Meshoe, of the African Christian Democratic Party, alleged that Jerusalem was slow in mobilizing its allies across the world, which prevented organizing a grass roots campaign on its behalf. “If many of these countries knew beforehand what was... Full story
(JTA)—If the latest draft resolution at UNESCO on “Occupied Palestine” succeeded in the Palestinians’ aims to reclaim the world’s attention, then it was a Pyrrhic victory at best and a setback at worst. Part of an effort on Jerusalem initiated at UNESCO in 2015 by the Palestinian Authority, the Oct. 12 vote saw a comfortable majority of states, including Russia and China, pass language calling on Israel “to cease the persistent excavations and works in East Jerusalem, particularly in and around the Old City,” as one clause reads. Only six coun... Full story
Frustrated with Trump, Sheldon Adelson said to focus on Senate (JTA)—Jewish philanthropist and top Republican donor Sheldon Adelson’s reported impatience with Donald Trump is reflected in the emphasis Adelson is placing on the battle for control of the Senate, CNN reported. Adelson has given at least $40 million to super PACs focused solely on the fight for Congress, while the $10 million he dedicated to a pro-Trump super PAC is only advertising in states with competitive Senate races. CNN and other outlets, citing unnamed figures close to Ade... Full story
The United Nations cultural body, UNESCO, passed a resolution Thursday, Oct. 13, that condemns Israeli actions at Jerusalem's holy sites and ignores any Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall complex. Calling the vote "another hallucinatory decision" by the group, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "To say that Israel has no connection to the Temple and the Western Wall is like saying that China is not connected to the Great Wall of China or the Egypt has no connection... Full story
UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova on Friday came out against the agency's executive board for adopting a resolution that disregards the connection between Judaism and Temple Mount and casts doubt over the link between the religion and the Western Wall. "The Al Aqsa Mosque [or] Al-Haram al-Sharif, the sacred shrine of Muslims, is also the Har HaBayit-or Temple Mount-whose Western Wall is the holiest place in Judaism," Bokova said in a statement. The Executive Board of the United Nations... Full story
JERUSALEM-A police officer and a civilian were killed and six were wounded during a drive-by shooting in Jerusalem this weekend, raising concerns about the possible resumption of the wave of lone wolf terror attacks that convulsed Israel earlier this year. Yosef "Yosi" Kirme, 29, and Levanah Malichi, 60, were killed in the attack, which occurred at the Ammunition Hill light rail station on Sunday when a Palestinian man drove past spraying bullets from a car. Malichi, who was waiting for the... Full story
JERUSALEM—A newly approved plan to build 98 homes in the Shiloh Valley in northern Samaria has renewed longstanding tensions between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the issue of “West Bank” settlement construction. Both the U.S. State Department and the White House have issued statements strongly condemning the plan—continuing a pattern of condemnations whenever Israel announces plans to build homes in territories captured from Jordan during the 1967 Six Day War. These territories lie at the center... Full story
(JNS.org)—The United Nations Security Council is expected to convene next week in an informal session, spearheaded by the Palestinians, to discuss Israeli settlements as an “obstacle to peace” in an eventual push for a formal Security Council resolution against Israel. “The existence and expansion of the settlements on Palestinians lands, which were occupied in 1967, endanger a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the two-state solution,” according to the position paper distributed to participants of the meeting, obtained by Yediot... Full story
The artificiality of a Palestinian identity is reflected in the attitudes and actions of neighboring Arab nations who never established a Palestinian state themselves. Arabs in neighboring states, who control 99.9 percent of the Middle East land, have never recognized a Palestinian entity. The Arabs never established a Palestinian state when the UN in 1947 recommended to partition Palestine, and to establish “an Arab and a Jewish state” (not a Palestinian state, it should be noted). Nor did the Arabs recognize or establish a Palestinian sta... Full story
Israel suspending ties with UNESCO following vote that denies Jewish connection to Jerusalem (JTA)—Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel would suspend its cooperation with UNESCO because of the U.N. agency’s decision to ignore Jewish ties to holy sites in Jerusalem. Bennett’s statement on Friday followed passionate condemnations by Israel as well as international Jewish groups and communities of a vote the previous day in Paris by the executive board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organ... Full story
In second debate, Trump says Syria regime is not worth confronting WASHINGTON (JTA)—Donald Trump said the U.S. focus in Syria should solely be on the Islamic State terrorist group, arguing that the Assad regime is not worth confronting because its allies, Russia and Iran, effectively control the country. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, in the second presidential debate—held Sunday night at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri—turned a question about what he would do to end the carnage in Syria into an extended attack on hi... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Israeli and world leaders gathered atop Mount Herzl on Friday to say goodbye to Shimon Peres, Israel's last founding father. In addition to fond personal recollections, many of those who took the stage alongside Peres' Israeli-flag-draped coffin offered their visions of the peace that eluded the former president and prime minister. Peres died early Wednesday at 93 after suffering a major stroke two weeks earlier. President Barack Obama, the last of the 10 speakers, called... Full story
RA’ANANA, Israel—Leket Israel, the national food bank and the largest nonprofit food rescue organization in Israel is increasing its activity to rescue food for the needy this High Holiday season. It is expected that the organization will feed over 175,000 people, including children and Holocaust survivors during the Jewish holidays. Due to the growing demand on Leket’s nonprofit partners before the holidays, Leket is collecting larger quantities of food, particularly before Rosh Hashanah. More than 1,200 tons of fruit and vegetables are expec... Full story
Hillary Clinton urges Jews to aim for their ‘best selves’ in call to get out the vote WASHINGTON (JTA)—Hillary Clinton spoke with Jewish supporters in a Rosh Hashanah-themed get-out-the-vote call, urging them to help her build “a country consistent with our best selves.” “The High Holy Days are a time to reflect on the last year, take a hard look at personal and collective priorities, and ask ourselves how we can do better in the year ahead,” the Democratic presidential nominee said Thursday on a call that her campaign said reached 1,000... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-When President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met for what was likely to be the last time as leaders of their countries, the most important thing they said was "see you soon." Netanyahu's invitation to Obama to visit Israel post-presidency augured a thaw in U.S.-Israel relations, which was also seen in remarks by Israel's diplomatic corps and signals from the pro-Israel lobby. Their friendly, relaxed interaction was in marked contrast to meetings like the... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Shimon Peres, the former defense hawk turned Nobel Peace Prize winner and the last of Israel's founders, has died. Peres died before dawn Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016, at 93, Israel Radio reported. The former president suffered a massive stroke earlier this month and was reported initially to be in stable but critical condition. His condition was reported to have deteriorated dramatically on Tuesday afternoon. Israel Radio quoted his family, who were at his side, as saying he was... Full story
By Sean Savage JNS.org The United States and Israel made history on Thursday signing the largest ever military assistance package between the two allies. The agreement was hailed by many as a means to ensure the Jewish state will securely meet the challenges of a dangerous and unstable Middle East over the next decade. However, after years of seemingly strained relations between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama, does the deal sweep aside this history as... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)-American Jews are likely to vote for Hillary Clinton in November, but American Jewry's fastest-growing community is likely to go the other way. A solid majority of haredi Orthodox Jews will vote for Donald Trump, say experts and Republican operatives in the haredi enclave of Borough Park, Brooklyn. While poll data isn't available on the fervently Orthodox vote, observers say the haredim are attracted by Trump's hawkish foreign policy, pugnacious personality and image as a successf... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-President Barack Obama's near parting gift to Israel, a guarantee of $38 billion in defense assistance over a decade, distills into a single document what he's been saying throughout eight fraught years: I have your back, but on my terms. The agreement signed Wednesday in the State Department's Treaty Room here increases assistance for Israel over the prior Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2007 under the George W. Bush administration and guaranteeing Israel $31 billion... Full story
Clinton and Trump, meeting with Netanyahu, share commitment to US-Israel alliance (JTA)—Hillary Clinton said she opposed any U.N. Security Council bid to impose a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just hours after a summit between the Israeli leader and Donald Trump. Netanyahu’s meetings with the Democratic nominee and earlier Sunday with her Republican rival were a study in similarities—principally in pledging close defense cooperation with Israel—and differences, especia... Full story
(JTA)-Like their constituents, the mainstream representatives of French Jewry are not known for passing up opportunities to express their opinion on subjects of national debate. And Jewish institutions in France, like those in the United States, regularly comment on a host of issues, including divisive ones that lie beyond their immediate purviews. The burkini ban was a notable exception. In May, CRIF, the umbrella group of French Jewish communities, came out in support of police officers who... Full story
(JNS.org) U.S. Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) spoke to an Israeli delegation this week about congressional support of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, Israel National News reported. “I want to say to all the people of Samaria that they are beloved by the American people, and we believe that Judea and Samaria are not the ‘West Bank’ but part of the state of Israel,” Franks told the Samarian Regional Council delegation on Capitol Hill. The council’s chief Yossi Dagan visited Washington, D.C., to meet with more than a dozen Republica... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Most Israeli Jews would prefer Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump as the next president of the United States, even though more of them think Trump would be better for the "Israeli government's policy." According to a poll released Sept. 6, 43 percent of Israeli Jews prefer Clinton as president, compared to 34 percent who want Trump. But 38 percent say Trump would be better for Israel, compared to 33 percent who say Clinton would be. On both questions, a large number of people... Full story
