Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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A Republican senator has called on the House of Representatives to launch impeachment proceedings against President Joe Biden over the president's decision to halt military sales to Israel in a bid to prevent the IDF from destroying Hamas battalions in Rafah. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton took to Twitter Thursday to urge the Republican-held House of Representatives to impeach Biden, comparing the president's decision to withhold arms from Israel with then-President Donald Trump's impeachment for...
Iranian citizens are praising the Israeli army and calling on the Jewish State to assassinate key ruling figures such as the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini, as Iran girds for a potential Israeli retaliation following an unprecedented missile and drone attack. Residents of Iran are expressing those sentiments via social media posts and subversive street graffiti, with many asking Israel to bring down the government, which rules according to a strict interpretation of Islamic law. “Israel, strike back. They don’t have the guts to take rev...
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett chastised Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Thursday, after Schumer called for new elections in Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ouster. “Regardless of our political opinion,” tweeted Bennett, who split from a coalition of right-wing parties led by Netanyahu in 2021 to form his own government, “we strongly oppose external political intervention in Israel’s internal affairs.” Bennett blasted Schumer’s interference in Israeli democ...
The government of Qatar is pressuring the Hamas terrorist organization to release additional captives being held in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported Wednesday. According to the report Qatar, a key patron of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, is demanding the terror organization speed up the release of captives, even without concessions from Israel, ahead of Israel’s planned ground operation into the coastal enclave. Following the Oct. 7 invasion, Qatar has brokered talks between the Biden administration and Hamas for the release of captives held in G...
Over 200,000 supporters of the proposed judicial reform gathered on Sunday evening, before the vote on judicial reform, in Tel Aviv's Kaplan Street, until now the main location for the weekly anti-reform protests on Sunday evening. The demonstration coincided with the reasonableness standard bill's expected second and third readings in the Knesset as well as several anti-reform protests happening in Jerusalem. Several pro-reform protesters blocked Tel Aviv's Ayalon Highway briefly before police...
Vice President Kamala Harris took a thinly-veiled jab at the Israeli government’s judicial reform plan at an event hosted by the Israeli Embassy in Washington this week after she learned one of the plan’s architects was present, Ynet reported Thursday. On Tuesday, Harris spoke at an event hosted by the Israeli Embassy celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel. In her comments, Harris made a dig at potential reforms to Israel’s judicial system and insinuated that Israel’s court should remain in its current form. “Un...
President Isaac Herzog recently presented his compromise proposal, the so-called “people’s plan,” to counter the government’s plans to reform the judiciary, calling for a “constitutional moment” amid what he said was a “nightmare” with “civil war looming.” “Those who think that a civil war is a border we won’t reach, have no clue,” he said in a live television address, noting that he had spoken to thousands of Israelis in recent weeks. “I’ve heard deep-rooted hatred. I’ve heard people from all sides say that if, God forbid, there’ll be blood i...
Israelis flocked to the polls Tuesday for the country’s fifth general election since April 2019, voting to determine the makeup of the 25th Knesset. Turnout levels were high throughout the morning and early afternoon, surpassing those in every election over the past two decades. Most of Israel’s 12,495 polling stations opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday, with some locations opening only at 8 a.m. By 10 in the morning, 15.9 percent of Israel’s 6,788,804 eligible voters had cast their ballots, with 1,076,076 votes reported, the highest voter turnout rate...
Iranian leaders feared former President Donald Trump, and after the killing of a top Iranian general, Tehran adhered to the terms of the nuclear deal, a former top Israeli national security official said Tuesday. Speaking with Channel 14, Jacob Nagel, former chief of Israel’s National Security Council and former acting National Security Advisor to then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that President Trump’s dramatic steps vis-à-vis Iran kept the Islamic regime in compliance with the nuclear deal – even after the U.S. withdrew from t...
The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday was preparing for a "week of fighting" against Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, as terrorists in the enclave fired over 1000 rockets at the Jewish state within 48 hours. The IDF said that the Iron Dome missile defense system had successfully intercepted 95 percent of the projectiles fired by PIJ that were headed for populated regions. One projectile struck a family home in Sderot, whose inhabitants had secured themselves in a shelter and were...
Terrorists in the Gaza Strip on Sunday night fired heavy barrages of rockets at southern and central Israel, including at Tel Aviv, ahead of an Egypt-mediated ceasefire between the sides that was slated to come into effect at 11:30 p.m. local time. Just eight minutes after the ceasefire took effect, Islamic Jihad terrorists fired more rockets at southern Israeli communities. Since then, the ceasefire seems to be holding as Israelis are experiencing much needed quiet. According to several media reports, the Israeli government had agreed to an...
Eighty-one Democrats from both the House and Senate sent a strongly worded letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, urging him to pressure the Israeli government into stopping potential evictions of Arabs from an IDF firing zone. “We are deeply concerned that this relocation of Palestinian families from homes they have lived in for generations could spark violence, is in direct violation of international humanitarian law, and could further undermine efforts to reach a two-state solution,” wrote the Democratic lawmakers, hea...
Hebrew University of Jerusalem studies published in a pair of medical journals suggest that already-existing drugs can be repurposed to fight Covid, the Hebrew-language news sites reported Monday. The studies give fresh optimism that a solution to the pandemic will be found despite fears of variants. Rather than create a Covid vaccine from scratch, Professor Shai Arkin of Hebrew University’s Biological Chemistry Department wondered if any existing medications could be reprocessed to fight the virus. After screening 3,000 potential drugs, A...
A senior Hamas leader who helped found the Iran-backed terror group in Gaza came out of hiding, saying that while he thinks the recent ceasefire will hold, his organization remains totally committed to replacing Israel with a Palestinian state, Sky News reported Monday. “I think nobody on both sides is looking for escalation,” Mahmoud al-Zahar told Sky News’ Mark Stone, who interviewed the Hamas co-founder in Gaza after top leaders of the terrorist group emerged from hiding following their rocket attack on Jerusalem May 10 that sparked 11 da...
A new study by the Jerusalem-based watchdog group IMPACT-se shows that school textbooks in Turkey are becoming more Islamicized and now refer to Jews and Christians as “infidels,” JTA reported Thursday. Researchers at the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) found a change in Turkish school textbooks that previously referred to Jews and Christians as “People of the Book.” New textbooks, however, such as “Fundamental Religious Knowledge,” a publication released after 2017 that is part of the mand...
In a landslide vote Thursday the Senate approved a budget resolution amendment making the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem permanent, so that it could not be moved out of Israel's capital in the future. "Pleased the Senate overwhelmingly passed the amendment Senator Hagerty and I introduced to make sure the U.S. Embassy to Israel remains located in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel," tweeted the bill's co-sponsor, Republican Senator Jim Infofe of Oklahoma. "I am proud to introduce legislation to...
A leading Evangelical Christian leader has spoken out publicly against the Black Lives Matter movement’s anti-Semitic manifesto and silence after synagogues and churches were attacked and defaced during their protests last week. “All true American patriots wept bitter tears at the brutal and needless death of George Floyd. Jews, Christians and people of conscience understand the inherent problems within our society that need to be addressed and healed. Racism of any kind does not belong in America and must be relegated to the annals of his...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday called for the formation of an emergency government to confront a growing crisis over the coronavirus, offering a potential way out of the deadlock that has paralyzed the political system for the past year. "I call for the formation now, even this evening, of a national emergency government," he said. "It will be an emergency government for a limited period. Together we will fight to save the lives of citizens," he added, saying that...
The United Nations Human Rights Council has released a list of more than 100 companies it says are operating in Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. In a report issued on Wednesday, the council said that the activities of these companies “raised particular human rights concerns.” The list is dominated by Israeli companies, including banks and construction firms. However, it also lists a number of international firms, including travel companies Airbnb, Expedia, and TripAdvisor, tech giant Motorola, and construction and infrastructure compan...
A Republican Muslim candidate is looking to unseat Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar in the upcoming U.S. elections. Dalia al-Aqidi, an award-winning international journalist and Muslim refugee, announced her candidacy on Thursday in order to fix the discord that Omar has sown in the country. "Ilhan Omar and I may seem alike, both women, Muslims, and refugees, but we couldn't be more different," said al-Aqidi in a video on her election website. "Omar has spent her entire time in Washington sowing...
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...
With little progress otherwise reported toward forming a new Israeli government, one point of agreement which is said to exist between Likud and Blue and White is over Israel’s right to claim sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea area. Before the September 17 Knesset election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he intended to immediately annex the Jordan Valley if he is re-elected. “In Blue and White, they are prepared to begin a process of imposing Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dea...
Israel has decided to bar two Muslim pro-BDS members of Congress from entering Israel over fears of provocation that they would cause and their unwillingness to coordinate with Israeli authorities, according to multiple reports. Officials had reportedly been examining the official wording of the decision with legal authorities. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri announced the decision late Thursday afternoon. According to a press statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan...
Robert Gregory Bowers, opened fire with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons during worship services inside Tree of Life Synagogue on Saturday, killing eight men and three women before a tactical police team tracked him down and shot him, according to state and federal affidavits. He expressed hatred of Jews during the rampage and later told police that "all these Jews need to die," authorities said. Officials released the names of all 11 of the dead, all of them middle-aged or elderly. The victims...
In her remarks at a UN Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley warned that “Iranian proxies in Iraq operate openly, with funding, training, and weapons supplied by Tehran. The Iranian regime has reportedly begun over the last few months to transfer ballistic missiles to these proxies in Iraq. It is reportedly developing the capability for its proxy militias to produce their own missiles inside of Iraq.” Iran, not Israel, ‘merits debate in Security Council’ “I have always been open abou...
