Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - The Hamas terrorist group may release 50 hostages with dual citizenship it holds in the Gaza Strip, "separate from any broader deal," The New York Times reported on Monday, citing an Israeli military source. Qatar and the United States are negotiating the release of abductees with dual nationality separately from those who have only Israeli citizenship, the report claimed. Israeli senior officials have previously said that Israel is not involved in any kind of negotiations related to...
(JNS) - U.S. President Joe Biden praised the Israeli people's wartime posture upon his arrival to the Jewish state on Wednesday. "To the people of Israel, your courage and commitment is stunning. I'm proud to be here," the American president said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeted Biden at the Ben-Gurion Airport tarmac along with President Isaac Herzog and other senior officials, before heading to the Kempinski Hotel on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea to speak to the media. "...
(JNS) — Foreign Minister Eli Cohen will speak about the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7 and Israel’s response at Tuesday’s United Nations Security Council meeting in New York. The minister will bring with him relatives of Israelis the terrorist group abducted and took to the Gaza Strip, the Foreign Ministry said. On Monday, the IDF said it had contacted the families of 222 hostages held by Hamas. Cohen will also participate in events in New York with the families of those kidnapped. He is also expected to meet with U.N. Secretary-General Antón...
(JNS) — Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that Muslims and the “resistance forces” will “lose patience” if Israel continues to prosecute its war against the Hamas terror group. “If these [Israeli] crimes continue, the Muslims will lose patience. The resistance forces will lose their patience. No one will be able to stop them at that point…. This is a reality,” Khemanei said in a video address later posted to X. In separate posts, Khamenei called Israel an “evil monster” and described the “Palestine and Gaza” as “manifestati...
(JNS) — The United Nations Security Council was scheduled to hold an emergency session on Wednesday morning following an explosion at a Gaza hospital that has set the Middle East on edge. Russia and the United Arab Emirates called for the open meeting shortly after the explosion, in the courtyard of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, which according to Hamas sources killed some 500 Palestinians. The explosion rocked the hospital as Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired heavy barrages of rockets at southern and central Israel. Alarms sounded i...
(JNS) — Cairo announced that humanitarian aid would enter Gaza via the Rafah border crossing, as residents of the Strip continue to move south ahead of a looming Israeli ground invasion. “Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and U.S. President Joe Biden have agreed on the sustainable delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip via the Rafah terminal,” announced Egyptian presidential spokesperson Ahmed Fahmy. In a move criticized by families of Israelis being held hostage in Gaza by the Hamas terrorist organization, Israel’s war Cabinet...
Acting deputy secretary of state to meet with J Street board at State Department (JNS) — Victoria Nuland, acting U.S. deputy secretary of state, was slated to meet with the board of directors of J Street at the U.S. State Department on Wednesday. “Closed press coverage,” a public schedule from Foggy Bottom stated. No more information was available from the State Department schedule. JNS sought comment from J Street but did not hear back. Earlier this month, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, a union, joine...
(JNS) — The numbers are astonishing. More Jews were slaughtered in one day that at any time since the Holocaust—more than 1,400 Jews, mostly civilians. But that is just a number. What is most painful are the pictures. They are killing Jewish babies again. And those pictures will stick in my mind forever. A dead baby in its bed, covered with its own blood. Even more impactful—a bloody pacifier on top of a changing table. No need to show what happened to its owner. We feel pain, anger and frust...
(JNS) — In January, Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, said during an International Holocaust Remembrance Day event that the international body was “founded upon the ashes of the Holocaust. It was established to ensure such darkness would never be felt by humanity again,” but “when it comes to fighting antisemitism, sadly, the U.N. ignores its purpose.” António Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, was present at the time, and the U.N. point man on antisemitism, Miguel Moratinos, later told JNS that “Israel and...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Joe Biden said he is designating experts to help in the effort to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas. The announcement came following U.S. confirmation that there are Americans among the more than 100 captives the terror group took back to the Gaza Strip in its invasion of Israel. “We’re working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel including deploying experts to advise on assist and recovery,” Biden told a round table of Jewish leaders invited Wednesday to the White House for a briefing on what...
WASHINGTON — The leadership of Christians United for Israel, the nation’s largest pro-Israel organization, issued the following statements concerning the Hamas attack on Israel. “The scenes we are witnessing today in Israel are heart-wrenching. Our prayers are with the people of Israel as they expel the invaders and work to save their countrymen. In the coming days, we’ll no doubt hear from those who wish to draw a moral equivalence between Hamas and the Israeli military. Make no mistake, anyone who would seek to undermine Israel’s response...
(JTA) — On a visit to Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged American support for the country as it ramps up its war on Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza. Israel is reportedly preparing for a ground invasion of Gaza, its first in nearly a decade, five days after hundreds of Hamas terrorists stormed Israeli towns and killed more than 1,300 people, wounding thousands and taking more than 100 captive. Israel has formed an emergency unity government to carry out the war, which will be led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin N...
(JNS) - "Stars of David, they took your life, they could not take your pride," sang U2 lead singer Bono. The Irish band was performing at the Las Vegas Sphere, and Bono dedicated the song "Pride" to "those beautiful kids at that music festival," speaking and singing about the hundreds of dead, missing and captured participants in the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re'im close to the border with Gaza. At least 260 of the 3,000 festival participants were murdered by Hamas terrorists on...
(JNS) - Israel's National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz paid a visit to Washington, D.C., this week for meetings with top Biden administration officials, the opposition politician revealed on Thursday. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Gantz confirmed he met with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Wednesday, while Hebrew press reported that he also sat down with other senior officials. "In the meeting [with Sullivan], we discussed advancing the vital security interests of the...
(JTA) — Argentina is launching an airlift to evacuate its citizens from Israel, four days after Hamas attacked Israel, killing and wounding thousands of people and spurring a war that could be long-lasting. The Foreign Ministry opened a hotline on Saturday, the day of the attack, for Argentinian citizens to request repatriation. Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero said on Tuesday that more than 713 requests had been received. Now, the “Safe Return” program will allow up to 625 people to leave the country. A military Hercules airplane and a Boein...
(JTA) — Political leaders from around the globe have condemned Hamas’ sweeping attack on Israel and pledged their support for Israel. U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following earlier conversations between National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi. The United States “unequivocally condemns the unprovoked attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians,” National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. There is neve...
Pro-Hamas activists call to ‘gas the Jews’ at Sydney protest (JNS) — Hundreds of pro-Hamas protesters on Monday chanted “gas the Jews” at an anti-Israel rally in Australia. The mob outside the Sydney Opera House also chanted “F*** the Jews” and “Allahu Akbar,” Arabic for “God is Great,” as they waved Palestinian flags. The Sydney rally came a day after the Democratic Socialists of America held a similar “pro-Palestine” rally in New York City’s Times Square. Several hundred protesters attended, chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine wil...
(JNS) — The Israeli Defence Forces launched a study this week to analyze the security implications of a normalization deal between Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study is being administered by a number of IDF branches, including intelligence, strategic planning, the Iran department and the air force. It seeks to clearly outline the advantages of the deal, including possible opportunities for partnership, along with the security risks of potential concessions that may be required of Israel to secure such an agreement. The f...
Randi Weingarten, teachers’ union leader, joins J Street board By Ron Kampeas WASHINGTON (JTA) — J Street announced that Randi Weingarten, a teachers’ union leader who has become a prominent voice in national debates over COVID-19 and education, is joining its board. The liberal Israel lobby’s announcement on Wednesday said Weingarten would be joined by John Yarmuth, a retired Jewish Democratic congressman from Kentucky; Cary Sherman, a former top recording industry executive; and Jon Greenwald, a veteran diplomat. J Street also announc...
(JNS) - Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) began a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia on Wednesday with a moment of silence for Taylor Force, the 28-year-old West Point graduate and U.S. Army veteran who was killed in 2016 while on a graduate-school trip to Israel. "His death was a deranged and inhumane action," said Wilson, who chairs the subcommittee, which is part of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The congressman also slammed the Palestinian...
(JTA) — Benjamin Netanyahu used his address to the United Nations to tout the prospect of a diplomatic agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and to broach a topic that he has previously downplayed: Israeli-Palestinian peace. The Israeli prime minister also used the end of his 25-minute speech to herald the benefits — and warn of the dangers — of artificial intelligence, largely reprising what he told tech mogul Elon Musk in a live streamed conversation earlier in the week. And he did not mention one burning issue that has preoccupied Israe...
(JTA) — Leaning into his latest controversies, Elon Musk is planning to join a bevy of Jewish men for a live chat. The conversation will focus on “X, anti-Semitism, and the future of free speech,” according to conservative pundit and social media personality Ben Shapiro, who announced Wednesday that Musk would join him on his “Daily Wire” podcast. Also participating in the conversation, Shapiro said, are Rabbi Ari Lamm, an Orthodox scholar and podcaster; former Israeli politician and Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky; an unnamed represent...
(JNS) - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in an interview that aired on Wednesday shot down reports that U.S.-led talks over normalization with Israel had been suspended. In an hour-long interview with Fox News' chief political correspondent Bret Baier-MBS's first ever interview completely in English and the first with a major American network since 2019-the crown prince said that peace with the Jewish state was "getting closer every day." Asked what it would take for Riyadh to join...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — As of November, Israelis will be able to enter the United States without a visa, a major change that Israel has long sought and that will ease travel for hundreds of thousands of its citizens. Israel’s entry into the Visa Waiver Program, which now includes 41 countries, means that Israelis traveling to the United States will no longer have to go through a months-long visa application process that carried the threat of denial. It also means that Palestinian-Americans living in the West Bank and Gaza will be able to enter Isr...
Israeli forces evacuate Samaria outpost; Four arrested (JNS) — Members of Israel’s coalition expressed anger on Wednesday after Israeli security forces evacuated a Jewish outpost erected near the community of Ma’ale Michmash in Samaria. Four Jews were arrested during the evacuation. Dozens of police and Civil Administration inspectors cleared out residential structures and an animal pen built on the hill. The outpost, Givat Sde Yonatan, established a few months ago in the Binyamin region of southern Samaria, sits on private Palestinian land....
