Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 60
JERUSALEM (JTA)-When the Islamic State claimed credit for an attack on Israeli soil for the first time Friday and vowed to strike again, the response here was not fear but incredulity. Israeli officials generally dismissed the militant Islamist group's assertion that it was behind the shooting and stabbing in Jerusalem that left a 23-year-old policewoman dead along with her attackers. Top U.S. experts on the group said the officials would be wise to think again. "This is a pattern that we see.... Full story
(JTA)-Large parts of Florida are suffering from severe drought, and hurricane season threatens to make things worse. Enter Water-Gen, an Israeli company whose technology captures humidity to extract drinking water from the air. On Monday, the South Florida city of Miami Gardens announced it was launching a pilot program with the company to address its water problems-the first U.S. city to do so. "As representatives responsible for the quality of life and safety of our communities, preparedness a... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Israel's minister of education says he wants to protect students from political coercion in the classroom. But critics of a new code of academic conduct he is proposing say it's a power play meant to stifle left-wing opinions in higher education. The code of ethics for institutes of higher education, which would bar the expression of political views in classrooms, was drafted at the request of Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the pro-settler Jewish Home party. It has... Full story
MITZPE RAMON, Israel (JTA)-It sounds like a Jewish mother's nightmare: a preschool class held outdoors in the desert. But parents in this remote Israeli town drop off their children at Gan Keshet every weekday during the school year, setting them free to cook on a campfire, whittle sticks with switchblades and search for scorpions. Class goes on rain (rare) or shine (intense). "The kids meet real life when they come here," said Ron Meltzer, the school's soft-spoken principal and visionary.... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Middle East peace may remain out of reach, but at least the Hebrew and Arabic languages have found a compromise. Israeli typography designer Liron Lavi Turkenich has created a stylized writing system that merges the two ancient alphabets, allowing Hebrew and Arabic speakers to read the same words. Her hope is that Aravrit will promote coexistence in Israel and beyond. "I believe Aravrit sends a message that we're both here, and we might as well acknowledge each other," Turkenich... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-President Donald Trump spent just 30 minutes at Yad Vashem on the second and last day of his visit to Israel, but the leadership of the Holocaust memorial center in Jerusalem planned to use the brief time to deliver a powerful message. Rather than bombarding Trump with facts or analysis, they told him the story of one German Jewish girl, Ester Goldstein, who was murdered by the Nazis. "The story of a child touches everyone, not only the president," Yona Kobo, researcher of... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Israeli startups are revving their engines ahead of the country's largest-ever "smart transportation" event. Over 200 local companies working in transportation technology will be at the EcoMotion Conference on Thursday at the Peres Center for Peace in Jaffa. The plan is to give auto industry giants a look under the hood of "Startup Nation." "Companies from around the world want to see what's happening in Israel," said Lior Zeno-Zamasky, the executive director of EcoMotion, a... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-David Rubinger's iconic photograph of three paratroopers at the Western Wall is the defining image of the 1967 Six-Day War. The men in the photo-Dr. Yitzhak Yifat, Tzion Karasenti and Chaim Oshri-have proudly served as symbols of the historic Israeli victory for the past five decades. But in an interview with JTA, they said the war for them was just as much about loss. "To liberate the Kotel was something amazing," Yifat told JTA, referring to the Western Wall. "But we never... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-They were part of the problem. Now they are spearheading a solution. A Tel Aviv-based startup run by young American Jewish immigrants to Israel, or olim, has taken on the largely fraudulent binary options industry centered in this country that has been estimated to generate as much as $10 billion a year. Owned and staffed in part by former binary options employees, Wealth Recovery International has used its insider knowledge to its advantage. "Because I worked in the industry, I... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-High-tech workers know there's no problem that can't be solved with a spreadsheet. So a group of Israeli women seeking to combat the gender wage gap in the industry created one last month with data about their qualifications and salaries. They hope to empower one another in salary negotiations. As of Friday, nearly 200 women had contributed to the survey, and the data showed a wide range of earnings -- even for women with similar qualifications working in similar positions. "We... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-In response to the alleged chemical attack in Syria on Tuesday, Israelis have donated hundreds of thousands of shekels to help children and others caught in the conflict raging on their northern border. With Israel maintaining a policy of noninterference, giving money has been a way for people here to respond to the brutal six-year civil war. Donations have spiked since the release of a video seemingly capturing the gruesome aftermath of the attack, which killed at least 82... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-"Vamos!" "Pass it!" "Ladrao!" For most of the match on a local field Friday, the Inter Aliyah Club soccer players speak a variety of languages. But when the ball hits the back of the opposing team's net, they join in soccer's universal victory cry: "Goooal!" Inter Aliyah, a team of Jewish immigrants to Israel mostly from Europe and South America, is playing its first season in the national soccer league. Bonded by their immigration experience and a love of soccer, the players... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Last week, Israelis for the first time saw a black lead character on a homegrown, primetime television show. "Nevsu," a half-hour comedy, focuses on an Ethiopian man who is married to an Ashkenazi Jewish woman. Misunderstanding ensues. "There is definitely a lot of cultural confusion in the show," Yosi Vasa, the star and co-creator of the show, told JTA. "But the great thing about comedy is when the audience laughs, that means they get it. So that's progress." Following a series... Full story
RAANANA, Israel (JTA)-Dan Shapiro can't seem to leave Israel. Before stepping down as the U.S. ambassador to the country in January, he said he would stay long enough for his daughters to finish the school year. On Sunday, he announced he would be sticking around even longer to join the Institute for National Security Studies, a top think tank in Tel Aviv. He and his wife, along with their three daughters, are living within commuting distance, in a rental house in an upscale neighborhood of... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Every week, thousands of women across Israel gather to play a sport almost no one outside the country has heard of. For that matter, few Israelis knew about catchball, or "cadur-reshet" in Hebrew, a decade ago. But in recent years it has become the most popular sport among adult women in the country, with nearly all the players over 30 years old. "It's like a disease among middle-aged women here," said Naor Galili, the director-general of the Maccabi sports association in Israel.... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Evangelicals, who have been advocating for Israel for years, have historically let the Jews take the lead. Laurie Cardoza-Moore, for one, is excited that they are poised to take on a prominent role. An evangelical TV host and activist, Cardoza-Moore backs President Donald Trump's pick for U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, a supporter of the settlement movement who is deeply skeptical of the two-state solution. And she is confident Trump will make good on his promise to... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Many Israelis feel alienated by the marriage process in their country, fed up with the bureaucracy and strict religious requirements. Some seek to reform the haredi Orthodox-dominated Chief Rabbinate while creating alternatives to its monopoly on marriage and other personal status issues in Israel. But haredi Rabbi Yisroel Meir Riani thinks the Chief Rabbinate just needs better customer service. His rabbinical group, B'Noam, has made helping Israelis navigate the famously... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-About 200 Jews from around the world toured the West Bank in response to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's recent speech warning of the dangers of settlement expansion. The group, organized on short notice by Miami-based fashion designer Joseph Waks, visited Jewish communities and met with their leaders on Monday, Jan. 2, to show solidarity with the settlement movement. A few dozen of the participants flew in from various countries. Most were foreign citizens living in or... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expects a “new era” when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month. He said as much at a Chanukah candle-lighting ceremony Saturday, where he addressed the United Nations Security Council resolution passed a day earlier against Israeli settlements in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem that the Obama administration declined to veto. “The resolution that was passed at the U.N. yesterday is part of the swan song of the old world that is biased against Israel, but, my friends, we ar... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Israel's leading security think tank has published a plan to redraw the map of the West Bank in a bid to consolidate major settlements and prevent the spread of others. The plan, presented Monday to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin as part of the Institute for National Security Studies' yearly strategic survey, calls for the government to allow construction in West Bank settlement blocs and Jerusalem. At the same time, it recommends a halt to construction in the 90 percent of the... Full story
NETANYA, Israel (JTA)-One fit young soldier scales a rope. Two others practice hand-to-hand combat. A large group marches across the sand. But those were just the inspirational photographs on the walls. The actual soldiers crowded in the one-room building here on the Orde Wingate army base were mostly paunchy middle-aged officers. On a Tuesday morning before sunrise, several dozen of them stood around in socks and workout gear as they prepared to weigh in for a session of Changes in Shape, the... Full story
ZICHRON YAAKOV, Israel (JTA)-Kobi Ifrach stood on a stage in England wearing nothing but gold body paint, a Speedo and an Israeli flag. He had just become the first Israeli to win the Junior Mr. Universe bodybuilding competition. Back home in this northern Israeli town, Ifrach's haredi Orthodox parents were cheering him on. Days earlier they had lit Shabbat candles and prayed for his victory. Ifrach, 20, left the path of strict Jewish observance during high school and now abides instead by the s... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-It's been nearly 50 years since Israel captured eastern Jerusalem, including the Old City, from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War. For the past eight years, Nir Barkat has been this city's mayor. On Sunday evening, six months ahead of the "united Jerusalem" jubilee, Barkat received an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva University at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, where he gave the keynote speech. A staunch advocate of Israeli control over all of Jerusalem, he thanked... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Call them Israel's American volunteer fire brigade. Dozens of firefighters from across the United States put their lives on hold-leaving behind jobs and families-to help subdue the wildfires that swept Israel over the past week. While they all share a love of Israel, only a handful of them are Jewish. "We're just firefighters. When guys hear about a situation like this one, where the Israelis are working as hard as they can, they want to come help," said Billy Hirth, a Protestant... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Stephen Bannon recently called Breitbart News "the most pro-Israel site in the United States of America." That will not change with Bannon leaving the far-right news website for the White House, according to Breitbart's Jerusalem bureau chief. Saying he shares a worldview with Bannon, President-elect Donald Trump's chief White House strategist, Aaron Klein plans to expand the Israel operation, which staunchly backs the Jewish state's political right wing. There is talk of moving... Full story
