Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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WASHINGTON (JTA)-Hillary Clinton is a chameleon, her critics say, ready to adopt the colors of her environment: dove, hawk, social conservative, social justice warrior, friend, backstabber. Hillary Clinton is a Rorschach test, her supporters say, a projection of her haters' deepest fears and insecurities: the strong woman distorted into a witch, the progressive distorted into a radical, the pragmatist distorted into an empty vessel. Hillary Clinton, in her first autobiography, "Living History,"... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-If Hillary Clinton is indeed courting Henry Kissinger, what happens to her relationship with Bernie Sanders? Reports that the Democratic presidential nominee is actively pursuing endorsements from Kissinger, who like her is a former secretary of state, and other former Republican officials have raised alarms on the left. It also has provided an opportunity for Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, who has lumped his Republican critics with Clinton as part of an elite that has... Full story
PHILADELPHIA (JTA)-Amanda Renteria, the national political director for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, was running through the campaign's messages for minorities and women: immigration for Hispanics, land use for Native Americans, various policies for defending children and women. She didn't mention Jews in her briefing Tuesday morning for specialty media, and there's a reason for that: There wasn't a Clinton issue that was unique to the Jews. When I asked her to mention some,... Full story
PHILADELPHIA (JTA)-When Debbie Wasserman Schultz spoke to the Florida delegation as the national Democratic convention got underway, some delegates cheered. Other delegates booed. The chaos at the Marriott Hotel here demonstrated the degree to which the Florida congresswoman, perhaps the party's most prominent Jewish leader, had become a divisive figure since she emerged a decade ago as the tyro no one in the party could praise enough. Wasserman Schultz, 49, was forced over the weekend to step... Full story
CLEVELAND (JTA)-Wednesday night's gripping tale of a dramatic, sudden repudiation of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz by Sheldon Adelson, the major pro-Israel philanthropist and Republican donor, seems a little less consequential in the light of Thursday morning, according to folks who are close with Adelson and his wife, Miriam. There is no rift, they say, only a cooling off until after Nov. 8, Election Day. Until then, the Adelsons are invested in Donald Trump, while Cruz remains a darling of the... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-They're elusive, but show up in the right place at the right time-and you might find one! No, we're not talking about the latest iteration of Pokemon Go. This is about tracking prominent Jewish GOPers and Jewish organizational representatives attending the Republican National Convention next week in Cleveland. They'll be barely visible, and the reason has everything to do with the presumptive nominee, Donald Trump. The Republican Jewish Coalition usually rolls out major sheb... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg launched a broadside against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump over the last week, calling him unfit for office. She subsequently apologized, but not before voices on the right and left criticized her for seeming to compromise the high court's dignity and objectivity. "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg needs to drop the political punditry and the name-calling," The New York Times editorial board said. The Washington Post... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-The conventional wisdom has it that earning the sobriquet "the most right-wing government in Israeli history" does not lead to diplomatic successes. In recent weeks, on the Turkish, Egyptian and African fronts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is proving the conventional wisdom wrong. How is it that the head of a government beating a hasty retreat from the two-state solution scored a triumphant tour of Africa, hosted a convivial summit with an Egyptian foreign minister for the... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-"I am proud to be a Vlach," says Yiannis Boutaris, the mayor of Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Ostensibly, we're here at the Washington Hilton to discuss Boutaris' bid to put the Jewish back in Thessaloniki, a city-perhaps best known as Salonika-once home to the largest numbers of Jews in Greece. But I'm the one who brought up the Vlachs, a dwindling minority of speakers of an ancient Latin dialect, scattered throughout the Balkans. When he ambles over, I greet him... Full story
(JTA)-Dirty, hot and exhausted Israeli soldiers waiting for their bus home from the army base tend, understandably, to be in a hurry to get on board. But when I was living in Israel during the first intifada, or Palestinian uprising, soldiers didn't jostle to be first in line. Rather, the most coveted position was second. That's because the bus driver had the right-under rules issued by the army and made clear to each armed soldier before she or he left the base-to order any soldier to sit in... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-An exhibit over 20 years old against an iPhone: Docents at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum are increasingly noting the battle with hand-held devices to keep the interest of young people. Now a $20 million gift to help revitalize the Washington, D.C., museum will aim to assist the docents while focusing on the challenges posed to democracies by rapid changes in technology. Allan and Shelley Holt announced their grant for the Washington, D.C., museum on Monday, June 13, in... Full story
(JTA)-Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, The Associated Press reported Monday. With more super delegates telling the AP they're committed to her, Clinton now has the votes she needs to win the nomination. But that's not the end for Bernie Sanders, by far the most successful Jewish presidential candidate in American history. The Independent Vermont senator is defiant and says he's taking the fight to the Democratic National Convention. He's said he'll try to flip... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-In a rare and sharp split with Israeli government policy, a group of Jewish community leaders want to get a proposal for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the next president's desk. Two complementary U.S. and Israeli working papers to be launched next week propose immediate actions Israel can take to prepare the ground for two states and a longer-term security structure that aims to satisfy Palestinian ambitions for sovereignty and Israeli security need... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Yes, there’s the Avigdor Liberman who wants to behead bad guys, mandate loyalty oaths and pay Arabs to leave the country—the one who makes fun of the disabled and who dodged a fraud charge. But Israel’s onetime foreign minister and maybe-next defense minister is not quite the cartoon he’s made out to be—OK, the cartoon he at times seems determined to make himself out to be. As defense minister, Liberman would double to two the Cabinet ministers who have seriously considered a two-state outcome: himself and Prime Minister Be... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-The Democratic Party platform drafting committee is top heavy with veterans of political battles over Israel-some friendly, some critical, and including at least one major backer of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The Democratic National Committee named the committee May 23, a day after reports emerged that Bernie Sanders, an Independent senator from Vermont running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, wants the platform to elevate the issue of... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—A bill unanimously approved by the U.S. House of Representatives would extend religious protections to advocates of circumcision and ritual slaughter as well as atheists, addressing what its sponsors describe as an increase in religious persecution in recent years. The bill, passed Monday, would broaden the definition of “violations of religious freedom” in the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to include the persecution of advocates of male circumcision or ritual animal slaughter. Atheists would become a new prote... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—When it comes to Israel, Democrats and Republicans simply do not see eye to eye, and for all their love of Zion, evangelicals will turn out for a candidate who is less than 100 percent on the issue. Welcome to the 2016 presidential election, when the conventional pro-Israel wisdom has been turned upside down. For years it was sacrosanct that whatever else divides the parties, backing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s line on Israel unites them. And Republicans who want to be elected better count on eva... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-The top Democrat handling foreign relations in the Senate says he will endeavor to get Congress to reauthorize Iran sanctions before year's end, a key goal of pro-Israel activists. "There's general agreement we have to extend the sanctions against Iran, and we need to do it before they expire at the end of this year, " Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told JTA on Thursday. Last month Cardin toured Israel, Saudi Arabia... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-You get to listen to Jews yelling at you. You get to listen to mandarins tell you why they won't listen to Jews. You get to emcee a cappella competitions. Who wouldn't want to be White House Jewish liaison? Matt Nosanchuk lasted nearly three years in a post-officially titled associate director of public engagement-that may be the apotheosis of thanklessness. He stepped down last week. Notably, Nosanchuk wound it up with plenty of thanks from some of those who made clear their... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Hear out Donald Trump. Ignore Donald Trump. There were two distinct approaches to the Trump moment last week at AIPAC's annual conference here, and there were mutual warnings that one or the other side would get burned. The burn came fast, and it came to those who said listening to the front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nod was the right thing to do. After days of repeated warnings to its activists not to disrupt Trump, and to treat speakers with respect, t... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Has Donald Trump's time come, and will Jewish political conservatives embrace him? Trump, the real estate magnate and front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, rolled closer to victory on Tuesday with wins in at least three primary states. His strong showing, earning 161 delegates or more depending on the final tally in Missouri, brought his delegate tally to 621-halfway to the 1,237 he needs to secure the nomination. The question for Jewish political... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-The controversy over whether laws protecting Israel from boycotts should include West Bank settlements found its way into a presidential signing statement this week, but President Barack Obama's decision to ignore a trade law's requirement to oppose boycotts of Israeli settlements likely won't settle the argument. The president said Wednesday he had signed the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 and embraced its provisions protecting Israel from the Boycott,... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Nearly half the states in the country are considering legislation aimed at countering the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS, movement. But critics say some bills are cause for concern, either because they seek to legitimate Israeli settlements or go so far in punishing boycott supporters they infringe on constitutionally protected speech. Two states, Illinois and South Carolina, passed laws last year mandating state divestment from companies that boycott Israel, according to a list maintained by Americans for Peace N... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-With the sudden passing last weekend of Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court is now split 4-4 between liberals and conservatives, throwing into doubt how the court will rule on a raft of cases-including several watched by Jewish organizations. Scalia, who was 79, is being mourned by Orthodox Jewish groups, which embraced his robust originalist doctrine, as well as Jewish church-state separation advocates, who railed at some of his decisions but admired his sharp wit and ded... Full story
(JTA)—The Iowa caucuses are over—and the first real test of the presidential candidates’ viability gave us more questions than answers. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, won the Republican caucus on Monday night, relegating Donald Trump, the real estate billionaire, to second place. Both Trump and Cruz ran insurgent anti-establishment campaigns. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., made a strong showing for third place, well ahead of the other “establishment” candidates. On the Democratic side, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., effective... Full story
