Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — The Biden administration has privately asked Israel to approve an urgent request for U.S. military aid to Palestinian Authority forces, Palestinian, American and Israeli officials told Axios. The request comes after the P.A. launched a rare counter-terror raid in Jenin, where Ramallah for years refused to act against Iranian-backed terrorist groups, in violation of its commitments under the Oslo Accords. Ramallah launched its operation, dubbed “Defense of the Homeland,” following the Dec. 5 seizure by Hamas and Islamic Jihad of a P.A....
NYC Israeli shawarma spot makes NYT’s ‘Best New Restaurants’ list By Adi Nirman (JNS) — Spice Brothers, the Mediterranean restaurant operated by Israeli chef Lior Lev Sercarz, has earned a spot on The New York Times’s “New York’s 14 Best New Restaurants of 2024” list. Sercarz, born in northern Israel, met David Malbequi, the restaurant’s former co-owner, while working together for renowned chef Daniel Boulud. They opened Spice Brothers in September 2023, but the two eventually parted ways and Lev Sercarz remained to manage the restaurant. The r...
By Rossella Tercatin (JTA) — In April, when a group of pro-Palestinian activists pressured Florence’s city hall to have the local honorary Israeli consul resign, they also took aim at a politician, Sara Funaro, who was running for mayor. “We’re sorry that we haven’t heard one word of condemnation of the Israeli government’s behavior from Marco Carrai,” the honorary consul, the activists said. “Just as striking is the silence of Councilor Funaro, who has actually wished this person well in his work.” Funaro didn’t respond — and doesn’t appear to...
JewBelong to put up antisemitism awareness billboards during holidays (JNS) — December 2023 had the highest number of antisemitic incidents of any month last year, the Anti-Defamation League reported. The activist group JewBelong is attempting to make sure that doesn’t repeat itself this month. To that end, as of Dec. 9, the nonprofit organization is placing billboards on main roads near four airports in the United States: Chicago O’Hare International Airport in Illinois, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia, Fort Laude...
(JNS) - Syrian President Bashar Assad has fled the country after a coalition of rebel groups stormed Damascus, ending his family's five-decade rule over the Arab Republic, Reuters reported on Sunday morning. Syria's army command notified officers on Sunday that the regime had fallen, an officer who was informed of the move told the press agency. A Syrian airplane took off from Damascus International Airport as the capital was being taken by the rebels. Reuters said it could not immediately...
(JNS) - Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu, visiting the Syrian border on Sunday, hailed the collapse of the Assad regime, "a central link in Iran's axis of evil," describing it as a "historic day in the history of the Middle East." Netanyahu said the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who fled the country after a coalition of rebel groups stormed Damascus on Sunday, was the direct result of blows Israel inflicted on Iran and Hezbollah, "the main supporters of the Assad regime." U.S. National...
(JNS)— Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) introduced legislation on Thursday that would ban the federal government from using the term “West Bank” and instead use Judea and Samaria, the terminology preferred by Israel. Formally titled the “Retiring the Egregious Confusion Over the Genuine Name of Israel’s Zone of Influence by Necessitating Government-use of Judea and Samaria (RECOGNIZING Judea and Samaria) Act,” the bill would prohibit government funds from being used to describe “the land annexed by Israel from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War...
A synagogue in suburban Melbourne, Australia, was set ablaze on Friday, causing congregants to flee and injuring at least one person. The fire before dawn on Friday at Adass Israel, a haredi Orthodox synagogue in the town of Ripponlea, sent congregants gathered for morning prayers into the streets at 4:10 a.m. Those who fled the fire reported assailants breaking windows and throwing firebombs into the building. The damage from the fire appeared to be extensive and was brought under control by 5 a.m. by a team of 60 firefighters and 17 trucks,...
(JNS) — The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution calling for a “High-level International Conference” to be held in June to push forward the establishment of a state of Palestine. The conference will advance implementation of U.N. resolutions regarding “the question of Palestine,” reads the resolution, one of three passed on Tuesday concerning the two-state solution. The conference will take place in New York on June 2-4, with a preparatory meeting to be held in May. It will adopt an “outcome document” that will out...
Seven women from Orlando — Sarah Gittleson, Stacey Soll, Shifra Yachnes, Carol Feuerman, Debbie Cohen, Limor Raz and Orly Wilf — were part of a group of 100 women from eight American cities who visited Israel from Nov. 4-11 as part of an eight-day trip organized by the global Jewish organization Momentum. The organization aims to inspire Jewish women to lead a Jewish future by becoming more connected to their identity, heritage, and Israel. The eight-day trip was part of the Momentum year-long program known as the Journey of Growth, an ini...
(JNS) — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced his selection of Adam Boehler to be the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs in the incoming administration. Boehler previously led negotiations on the 2020 Abraham Accords, the agreement that normalized diplomatic relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain that was later expanded to include Sudan and Morocco. Trump touted Boehler’s experience as a negotiator and his unanimous confirmation by the Senate as the first CEO of the U.S. Development Finance Cor...
German luxury hotel flies Israeli flag, sees 136% bump in bookings (JNS) — A luxury resort in the Bavarian Alps which has been flying an Israeli flag since Oct. 8, 2023, has seen a 136 percent rise in Israeli bookings over the past year, according to Hebrew media reports. Schloss Elmau, located in Krün near the Austrian border, reported 438 overnight stays by Israeli guests in the first 10 months of 2024, compared to 185 during the same period the previous year. Owner Dietmar Müller-Elmau has pledged to keep the flag flying until all the hos...
(New York Jewish Week) — Omer Neutra was killed more than one year ago, more than 5,000 miles away. But at his memorial service Tuesday morning on Long Island, the sanctuary overflowed with relatives, friends, Jewish leaders and at least one other hostage family. Coursing through the crowd was the pain of learning — after nearly 14 months of unending hope and activism — that Neutra had been killed in battle alongside his fellow Israeli soldiers on Oct. 7, 2023, the day Hamas terrorists abducted his body to Gaza. It is still being held there...
Staff Sergeant Yona Betzalel Brief, 23, died on Nov. 26, 2024, as a result of wounds he sustained on Oct. 7, 2023, near the Gaza border. Brief was the nephew of Lake Mary residents Dr. Bruce and Debra Hoffen and cousin of Sara and Frances Hoffen. Brief was 23 and the youngest son (of six children) of Hazel and David Brief, who have lived in Modi'in, Israel for 30 years. David is the brother of Debra Hoffen. Yona, a combat medic in the elite Duvdevan unit, died at Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer w...
(JNS) — Britain would follow due process and arrest Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he were to visit the United Kingdom, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Monday in response to a question from reporters at a G7 meeting near Rome. Last week, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for the Israeli premier and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged “war crimes” committed in Gaza since the start of the Iron Swords War. “We are signatories to the Rome Statute, we have always been committed...
(JNS) — Hamas welcomed the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon that went into effect early Wednesday, with the Gaza-based terrorist group saying that it, too, wants a pause to hostilities. “We have informed mediators in Egypt, Qatar and Turkey that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious deal to exchange prisoners,” a Hamas official told the AFP news agency. The Hamas official accused Jerusalem of obstructing an agreement. The terrorist group welcomed the agreement despite its Iranian-backed ally reneg...
(JNS) - Sebastian Gorka, Donald Trump's pick as his senior director for counter-terrorism, has made several statements in favor of Israel recently, including that "Palestine" doesn't exist and that IDF generals should forget about diplomacy and focus on defeating terrorists militarily. Gorka, who had served as deputy assistant to the president-elect from January to August 2017, during his first term in office, broached the issue of Palestine in an interview on Nov. 16 with a host for RT, a Russian state-controlled international news television...
(JNS) — The National on Wednesday published what the Emirati state-owned newspaper said is the full text of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon that halted hostilities with the Hezbollah terrorist entity. According to the Abu Dhabi-based broadsheet, the text was obtained from a senior official after it was discussed in a government meeting in Beirut on Wednesday. Here is the text: Announcement of a Cessation of Hostilities and Related Commitments on Enhanced Security Arrangements and Towards the Implementation of UNSCR 1701 A...
“Neri is turning 6, she wants to help hungry babies in Israel!” This isn’t the typical line included in the notes section of a donation to American Friends of Yad Eliezer/B’ezri’s Feed-a-Baby donation form. So, when an office manager saw it, she decided she wanted to hear more about Neri and how a 6-year-old from Ormond Beach, Florida was helping feed a baby across continents. Florida and Israel may be separated by over 6,000 miles, but the distance is no match for one local family committed to helping Israeli families in need. Dr. Maurice K...
(JNS) —The Netherlands’ House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a motion that calls for shuttering extremist mosques whose leaders preach the destruction of Israel. The motion submitted by the leader of the coalition’s Farmer–Citizen Movement, titled “The closure of Salafist mosques and institutions that preach the destruction of the Jewish people and Israel,” passed 91-58. “Noting that antisemitism and incitement to antisemitism are increasing, and this has led to a Jew-hunt, calls on the government to close Salafist mosques and instituti...
White House denounces murder of Chabad rabbi in UAE ‘in strongest terms’ (JNS) — The White House National Security Council condemns the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the United Arab Emirates “in the strongest terms,” Sean Savett, a spokesman for the council, stated on Sunday evening. “Our prayers are with his family, the Chabad-Lubavitch community, the broader Jewish community and all who are mourning his loss,” Savett said. “This was a horrific crime against all those who stand for peace, tolerance and coexistence. It was an assault as well...
(JNS) — Israel’s government unanimously approved the appointment of Yechiel Leiter as ambassador to the United States. Leiter will replace Michael Herzog—the outgoing ambassador and older brother of the Israeli president—on Jan. 24, four days after the Trump administration takes office. Before that, Herzog and Leiter will work together to ensure a smooth transition. The Cabinet OK’d the nomination after an appointments committee headed by the Civil Service commissioner recommended that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s selection be approved....
(JNS) - The Emirati interior ministry announced that it has arrested "the three perpetrators involved in the murder of Zvi Kogan, a Moldovan national according to his identification documents at the time of entry into the UAE, where he lived as a resident." The Emirati Ministry of Interior then confirmed on Monday, Nov. 25, that the three suspects arrested for the murder of Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan are Uzbek nationals. Security authorities identified the suspects as Olimpi...
(JNS) — Jewish teens involved in Jewish camps, schools and other programming are more likely to hold positive views of Israel and less likely to harbor negative sentiments about the conflict, according to a new study. The global survey of teens aged 14-18 was conducted by Mosaic United, an initiative of Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Of the 1,600 responses collected, half were disqualified for various reasons. The final sample consisted of 80 percent American Jew...
(JNS) — The decision to extend Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria is one “for Israel to make,” according to Mike Huckabee, who was tapped by President-elect Donald Trump last week for the post of U.S. ambassador to Israel. Speaking to Israel National News on Nov. 15, the former Arkansas governor said that the decision is not one the United States will impose. “I don’t think Donald Trump is the kind of president that wants to tell other countries what to do and how to do it. He wants to accommodate, help, encourage peaceful endeavors...
