Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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NEW YORK & TEL AVIV — The first group of Birthright Israel, the largest educational tourism organization in the world, landed May 21 at Ben Gurion Airport, marking the resumption of activity following a yearlong Covid-19 pause. The participants are vaccinated students from the United States, arriving in Israel today for a 10-day educational tour. Dozens of more trips are expected during May and June, with many more tour groups planned for July, August, and October. The group that arrived today will visit the Golan Heights, Safed, Jerusalem, M...
Since the current round of fighting broke out on May 10, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad had fired nearly 3,500 rockets at Israel, the Israeli military said on May 18. Of those, some 500 have fallen inside Gaza, according to the IDF. Israel’s Iron Dome defense system intercepted approximately 90 percent of projectiles heading for populated areas in Israel.The barrage continued until a ceasefire came into effect on 21 May. The following is a compilation of articles from JNS and JTA that covered the 11 days of combat: • Israel says that it...
(JNS) — During his first public speech since the start of the latest escalation of rocket attacks from Gaza and Israeli retaliation, Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday declared “victory” over the Jewish state. The Hamas head said that Israel’s cancelation of its traditional Jerusalem Day flag march, and the delay of a court ruling over home ownership in eastern Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, were expressions of this victory, according to Israel’s Channel 12. “Jerusalem is the central axis of struggle, and we will n...
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...
(JNS)— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized to foreign diplomats that the Israel Defense Forces go to great lengths to target its enemies with great precision and to avoid collateral damage. Speaking to more than 70 diplomatic representatives from several countries, including the United States, the European Union, Russia, China, India, Germany, Austria, Australia, Japan, Brazil, Canada and Italy, the Israeli leader said that Hamas “indiscriminately targets everyone.” “They murder everyone—any civilian they can get their han...
(JNS) — As violence in Israel persists for a second week, Yad Sarah announced its commitment to remaining open and providing full services to citizens across the country. From the outset of rocket attacks launched from Hamas and other terror groups in the Gaza Strip, the organization has sent reinforcement to branches in southern Israel, providing supplies like home hospital equipment, wheelchairs, crutches, respiratory aids and more by the hundreds. Along with increasing its lending services in the south, volunteers are directly delivering m...
(JNS) - As the truce in Gaza takes hold, Israel and the international community must employ multiple approaches to prevent Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad from once again using a quiet period to rearm themselves, a former Israeli defense official has said. Col. (res.) Shaul Shay, who served as the deputy head of the National Security Council and is today a senior research fellow at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, told JNS on Monday that setting this goal would be a good...
(ISRAEL21c) - Medical staff at hospitals up and down the country have come together in solidarity to call for peaceful coexistence and cooperation between Jewish and Arab medical personnel during trying times. Staff at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, and Emek Medical Center in Afula, have all taken part in initiatives to try to promote unity. At Sheba, the staff which consists of both Jewish and Arab doctors and nurses,...
(JNS) - A heavy rocket barrage fired by Gazan terror factions at central Israel killed an Israeli woman in Rishon Letzion and injured more than 20 civilians in multiple locations. In Holon, eight people were injured and taken to hospital, two in serious condition, said Israeli paramedics. Five civilians sustained light injures in Givatayim, east of Tel Aviv. "United Hatzalah volunteers treated a bus driver who was seriously injured by a rocket that exploded near his bus in Holon, as well as six...
(JTA) - In the seven years since the last war in Gaza, Israel and Hamas have repeatedly come close to reigniting the conflict. But the peace on the Gaza border has largely held - until this week. Since the end of Israel's last major offensive in the summer of 2014, there has been unrest in Jerusalem and elsewhere, terror attacks across Israel and protests on the Gaza border that turned deadly. Many of the tensions that have bubbled up in recent weeks between Israelis and Palestinians are not new...
(JTA) — A rocket from Gaza killed a 5-year-old child in the Israeli city of Sderot, bringing Israel’s death toll to seven in its exchanges of fire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In Gaza, 83 people have died, including 14 children, according to Save the Children, an aid group with a Gaza office. In addition, four Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops in the West Bank this week. Alongside the fighting between Israel and Hamas, several people have been wounded in clashes that have raged inside Israel between crowds of Arabs and...
In the wake of a barrage of 250 missiles launched from Gaza into Israel, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin invited citizens from the Gaza “envelope” (periphery) area and greater southern Israel to his official Jerusalem residence, Beit Hanasi. “Dear families, groups of children and adults from the Gaza envelope and the areas under missile attack, you are invited to the President’s House to enjoy the educational and experiential tours of the visitor center. The President’s House will provide extra tours to help relieve your tension and give respit...
UPDATE: Israel’s announcement of a ground operation in Gaza may have been intended to misdirect Hamas militants. While the Israeli army bombarded Gaza on Thursday, the army later clarified that troops did not enter the territory. (JTA) — Israel’s army unleashed a wider military attack on Gaza Thursday night, inaugurating a new phase in a conflict that has claimed dozens of lives in the last several days. The war has already reached several milestones in a region accustomed to conflict. Hamas, the terrorist group that controls Gaza, has sent...
(JNS) — With Israel coming under the fire of more than 1,300 rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, many U.S. lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have vocalized their support for Israel. As to be expected, some in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party harshly criticized Israel’s response. Three Muslim lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives released a joint statement characterizing the violence Monday as “attacks on Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan.” “We are horrified by the violent assault by Israeli forces on the Al...
(JTA) — After 11 days of fighting, Israel and Hamas agreed to a “mutual and simultaneous” ceasefire on Thursday that began at 2 a.m. Friday Israel time. Israel’s security cabinet unanimously approved the truce, according to reports, after military officials presented what they deemed the successful outcomes of their campaign. A Hamas official confirmed the news to Reuters on Thursday. Israeli forces “achieved military goals unprecedented in their strength, accuracy and strategic significance in their fight against terror organizations in the Ga...
(JNS) - Israel's President Reuven Rivlin has announced that Yair Lapid will now receive the mandate to form the country's next government. Rivlin made the announcement in a televised statement from his official residence, saying that his "main consideration" was who was the best choice to form the next government. "From the number of recommendations, it is clear that MK Yair Lapid could form a government that has the confidence of the Knesset, despite there being many difficulties," Rivlin...
(JNS) — In recent days, conflicting reports have emerged over the ongoing negotiations in Vienna to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, leading to questions over to what extent the United States will undo Trump-era sanctions against Tehran. Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, as well as an expert on Iran negotiations and sanctions, told JNS that he believes the reports coming out of Iran reflect leaks that the Islamic regime is already declaring victory at the negotiating table with the United States g...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — In the runup to Jerusalem Day, which this year falls on May 9, the city continues to be Israel’s largest, with a population nearing 1 million, according to a study by the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research. The study was presented to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin by JIPS researchers on Tuesday. At the end of 2020, the capital’s population comprised 952,000 residents, according to the study, with an average age of 24, compared to the national average of 30. The figure in Tel Aviv was 36, while in Haifa it was 3...
(JTA) - At least 45 people were crushed to death and at least 150 wounded Thursday night in a stampede during a celebration that drew tens of thousands of haredi Orthodox Jews to the northern Israeli mountain village of Meron. Meron is home to the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, an ancient sage associated with the Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer, which began Thursday night. More than 100,000 people had reportedly traveled to the town, in the largest gathering in Israel since the onset of the...
(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has failed to form a government by the deadline imposed by Israeli law, thrusting the country into uncertain political territory yet again. This could mean that after more than 12 years as Israel’s prime minister, Netanyahu will have to leave office. But he’s been in this situation before and managed to survive. It all depends on what happens next: Another politician could replace him, or Israel could head to its fifth round of elections since 2019. Netanyahu has been trying desperately to av...
(JTA) — The videos circulating out of Jerusalem — of beatings, stone throwing and racist chants — are shocking. Reporters say it’s some of the worst fighting the contested city has seen in years. But the tensions that fueled the violence in the Old City on Thursday night are anything but new. Hundreds of Jewish extremists marched down Jerusalem streets chanting “Death to Arabs” and singing “Burn their village.” The demonstration followed days of unrest in eastern Jerusalem in which Palestinian residents clashed with police over restrictions im...
(JTA) — “If you haven’t seen the joy of Lag b’Omer on the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, you haven’t seen joy at all,” wrote the author Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israel’s first Nobel Prize laureate. That description reflects an aspect of the annual pilgrimage to Mount Meron in northern Israel that was underlined by the deaths on Friday of at least 45 revelers in a stampede: It is a place whose symbolism reflects a mix of grief and euphoria. Indeed, the tragedy struck during what for many observant Jews is among the happiest days of the year: the c...
(JTA) — A woman will be the spiritual leader of an Israeli Orthodox synagogue for the first time. Shirat Hatamar, a congregation in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, elected Rabbanit Shira Marili Mirvis, 40, as spiritual leader on Monday with the support of 83 percent of its membership. “I truly hold in my heart all of the women, across all of the generations, who are greater than me, and smarter than me, and fear heaven and are students of Torah that didn’t receive the recognition and love that I have received,” she said in a speech this week...
A Syrian surface-to-air missile fired at an Israeli Air Force fighter jet that had been involved in airstrikes on targets in Syria exploded in Israel’s southern Negev region early on Thursday. Warning sirens went off in the region of the Bedouin village of Abu Qrenat, in the northwest Negev, the Israel Defense Forces said. Residents in the south and in Jerusalem reported hearing a loud blast, according to a report by Mako. Iran could have been targeting Israel’s nuclear facility in Dimona, which is close to the site of the explosion. Soon after...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — The Shas Party is pushing for a vote to reform Israel’s electoral system to enable a special election for prime minister, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Sunday. The plan was the result of a meeting between Shas leader Aryeh Deri and Yamina leader Naftali Bennett, according to the report. The idea behind the initiative is that the special vote would give Israel a way out of the political stalemate that resulted from the March 23 elections — Israel’s fourth general elections in two years. According to the Channel 12 repo...
