Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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The U.S. and U.K. have reportedly been spying on Israel for the past 18 years, watching for a potential strike on Iran and keeping tabs on Israel’s drone technology. U.S. and British intelligence “secretly tapped into live video feeds from Israeli drones and fighter jets, monitoring military operations in Gaza, watching for a potential strike against Iran, and keeping tabs on the drone technology Israel exports around the world,” The Intercept revealed in a breaking news feature on Friday. Under a classified program code-named “Anarchist,” Isra... Full story
Non-Orthodox, Diaspora leaders and Netanyahu praise Western Wall compromise JERUSALEM (JTA)—A chorus of non-Orthodox and Diaspora leaders praised the landmark interdenominational compromise on the Western Wall. The compromise will expand the wall’s egalitarian section and place it under the authority of a pluralist committee while solidifying haredi Orthodox control over the site’s traditional, Orthodox section. Women of the Wall, the women’s prayer group that holds monthly services in the Orthodox section, will move to the non-Ort... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-The collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process a year ago has led to an accelerating war of words over Israeli settlements, with Israel accusing its growing chorus of foreign critics of prejudging the final terms of a peace deal at best-and anti-Semitism at worst. The battle heated up this week with the release of a report by Human Rights Watch arguing that doing business with West Bank settlements reinforces Israel's presence there and contributes to human rights abuses. The report comes a day after the European Union,... Full story
(JTA)-A day after witnessing her mother's brutal murder, Dafna Meir's teenage daughter spoke before hundreds who had come to mourn her. Dafna Meir, 38, a mother of six, was stabbed to death on Sunday near the entrance of her West Bank home. "It's hard for me to think we will not laugh together or fight anymore, that you won't accompany me to the IDF induction ceremony, down the aisle, and to the maternity ward," Renana Meir, 17, said at a Jerusalem cemetery, calling her mother her best friend.... Full story
The ongoing wave of Palestinian terrorism that has plagued Israel since last fall has also brought to the fore the Palestinians’ frustration with their own leadership. While Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has been blamed for inciting violence against Israelis, many Palestinians have become disillusioned with the PA’s corruption and inability to attain statehood. As such, Israeli leaders are increasingly concerned that internal Palestinian dissatisfaction could bring about the PA’s collapse, resulting in a dangerous polit... Full story
Trump retweets compliment from feed that posts fears of ‘white genocide’ WASHINGTON (JTA)—Donald Trump posted a flattering message from a Twitter account that features claims that Jews and others are carrying out a genocide against whites. It was not immediately clear if the Twitter account, @WhiteGenocideTM, is a hoax site or a genuine white supremacy advocacy feed, or some combination of both. The feed in recent weeks has alternated between tweets in support of Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nomin... Full story
While the threat of border clashes with Islamic State terrorists fighting in the Syrian civil war has concerned Israeli leaders for some time now, the recruitment of Israeli Arabs to form their own terror cells or launch lone wolf attacks inside of Israel-akin to the Paris and San Bernardino attacks late in 2015-has recently become a more serious threat for the Jewish state. "This is a developing threat for Israel, the possibility that [Islamic State] will take advantage of the new recruits to... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Less than a month after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaled a readiness to mend ties with Israel after years of antipathy, a delegation of American Jewish leaders has embarked on a trip to embrace Turkey's longtime rival Greece. Members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations are in the midst of a weeklong trip that will take them to Israel, Greece and Cyprus, the disputed Mediterranean island that has been a source of Greek-Turkish... Full story
The ongoing wave of Palestinian terrorism that has plagued Israel since last fall has also brought to the fore the Palestinians' frustration with their own leadership. While Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has been blamed for inciting violence against Israelis, many Palestinians have become disillusioned with the PA's corruption and inability to attain statehood. As such, Israeli leaders are increasingly concerned that internal Palestinian dissatisfaction could bring about... Full story
(JTA)-A French Jewish politician found dead in his home was killed by asphyxiation, the autopsy found. The body of Alain Ghozland, 73, a municipal councilor in the Paris suburb of Creteil, was also reportedly riddled with stab wounds when it was discovered in his apartment Tuesday morning. An unnamed judicial source told the French MetroNews website Wednesday that the cause of death was "traumatic asphyxiation," which he is quoted as saying "confirms the voluntary nature of the homicide." He dec... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Last month, rumors flooded the Internet that former Israeli President Shimon Peres was dead. True to form, the man who tirelessly trumpets his country's high-tech sector took to Facebook to clear the air. "I wish to thank the citizens of Israel for the support, concern and interest, and wish to clarify that the rumors are false," wrote Peres, a Nobel Prize winner. "I'm continuing with my daily schedule as usual to do whatever I can to assist The State of Israel and its citizens."... Full story
Funeral held for West Bank mother of 6 as search for killer moves to 2nd day TEL AVIV (JTA)—Hundreds attended the funeral for the Israeli mother of six who was stabbed to death in her West Bank home as the manhunt continued for her assailant. Dafna Meir, 38, was laid to rest Monday morning at the Har Hamenuhot cemetery in Jerusalem. Among those on hand were Education Minister Naftali Bennett, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and opposition leader Isaac Herzog. Meir, a nurse, was stabbed to death in her home the previous day in the Otniel s... Full story
Amid heightened tensions between the two most powerful Muslim nations in the Middle East, experts say the loudest sound might be American silence. Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a Shi'a Muslim dissident who was arrested in 2012 by Saudi authorities, was one of 47 men executed on Jan. 2 by Saudi authorities in the largest mass execution in decades. While nearly all of the 47 men killed had ties with Sunni Muslim terror groups like Al-Qaeda and Islamic State, the inclusion of al-Nimr set off outrage in... Full story
The latest explosion of populist conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia has effectively produced a temporary Middle Eastern Arab alliance with Israel. The common threat of Iran has united the Saudi Arabia aligned Arab world, placing nation after nation on Israel's side in the issue of the security of the Middle East. This security alignment between Israel and the Arabs is besides the Israeli economic and cultural presence that is growing throughout the Arab World and the potential for cooperatio... Full story
PARIS (JTA)-Last year may have been traumatic for France and its Jews, but it was a pretty good one for Rudy Abecassis. In a year that began with the Charlie Hebdo shooting and the subsequent killing of four at a kosher supermarket in Paris, Abecassis, 32, a Marseille-born computer specialist who moved to the Paris region in 2009 to find work, had a good job at a time of rising unemployment. The income was sufficient that his wife, Emilie, was able to quit her secretarial job after the birth of... Full story
RA’ANANA, ISRAEL—More than 2.5 million tons of edible food, with a market value of NIS8 billion (roughly US$2 billion) is wasted in Israel annually, according to an inaugural report, Food Waste and Rescue in Israel: The Economic, Social and Environmental Impact, released today, Jan. 6, 2016, by global consulting group BDO Ziv Haft and Leket Israel, the national food bank. The report, the first of its kind in Israel, highlights the economic, social and environmental benefits of rescuing unused food for the more than two million Israeli cit... Full story
Chelsea Clinton, Ivanka Trump declare election 2016 truce (JTA)—Chelsea Clinton and Ivanka Trump reportedly have decided not to let the 2016 presidential election ruin their friendship. However, they have agreed not to see each other until after the November vote, the New York Daily News’ Confidenti@l column reported Saturday. Confidenti@l had reported Jan. 1 that the relationship between the two high-profile women, who exchanged baby gifts and had a frequent text messaging relationship, was strained over the attacks by their par... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-At first blush, it appears like a bombshell: The United States listened in on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's phone calls. But on closer examination, the revelations reported Dec. 29 by The Wall Street Journal might not be so far reaching. Spying on allies is both routine and legal in the United States, though perhaps not very politic. Here's what the controversy is all about and what may happen next. What exactly did the Obama administration do? According to the... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—The United States monitored phone conversations between top Israeli officials and U.S. lawmakers as well as U.S. Jewish groups in the U.S., current and former U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal. The National Security Agency’s foreign eavesdropping included conversations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his aides, and private conversations held between Israeli officials and U.S. lawmakers, according to the report published late Tuesday afternoon, citing more than two dozen unnamed U.S. officials. The Whi... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Its backers call it a victory for transparency. Opponents say it smacks of dictatorship. Either way, a new bill requiring certain Israeli nongovernmental organizations to publicly declare their foreign government funding is moving toward passage after it was approved by a Cabinet committee on Sunday. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, who proposed the bill, said it uncovers foreign meddling in Israeli affairs. "The transparency law, which passed the ministerial committee for... Full story
(Jewniverse via JTA)-A priest, a rabbi, and an imam walk into a bar... Actually, this isn't a joke or a bar. It's an extraordinary new building called the House of One, which will combine a mosque, a synagogue and a church in Petriplatz, also known as "the medieval birthplace of Berlin." Yes, Berlin-as Rabbi Tovia Ben-Chorin says in House of One's promotional video, "For me as a Jew, this city is 'The City of Wounds' and 'The City of Miracles.'" The House of One will welcome people of multiple... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-It has the highest poverty rate among affluent democracies, the fourth-worst income inequality and the seventh-lowest government spending on social services. Those are among the dismal conclusions of the State of the Nation report, an annual set of papers on Israel's economy and society released last week by the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies, a socioeconomic think tank. There is some good news sprinkled in, but the prognosis is mostly grim. Here are six figures that... Full story
Two Jewish-Israelis indicted in deadly Duma firebombing JERUSALEM (JTA)—Two Jewish-Israelis have been indicted in the deadly firebombing of a Palestinian family’s home in the West Bank village of Duma. Israeli prosecutors filed the indictments in Lod District Court on Sunday, when a gag order was lifted on some details of the July 31 arson attack case. The main suspect is Amiram Ben-Uliel, 21, of Jerusalem, who was charged with three counts of murder, according to Israel Police. Three members of the Dawabshe family—an 18-month-old boy and his p... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-The issue of torture in Israel has received unusual attention in recent weeks because of the identity of the alleged victims. Human rights groups say nothing is new in the allegations that Jewish youths, arrested in connection with an arson attack over the summer that killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents in the West bank village of Duma, were tortured by Israel's Shin Bet internal security service. For years, Palestinians have charged Israeli authorities with doing much... Full story
For the first time since World War II, two of Europe's great synagogues were forced to shutter their doors to Jews on the Sabbath. The weekend following the horrific attacks in Paris, the streets of Belgium and other major European cities were covered in military vehicles, armored military personnel and silence. The Great Synagogue of Brussels was closed because of an "immediate very serious threat." The Malmo Synagogue in Sweden was on lockdown because it was believed people with the "intent... Full story
