Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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WASHINGTON (JTA) – The moment the Iran nuclear deal becomes law, as seems increasingly likely given growing congressional support for the agreement, the focus of the U.S.-Israel conversation will shift to the question of what’s next. What more will Washington do to mitigate the Iranian threat and reassure Israel and other regional allies? For starters, President Barack Obama seems ready to offer an array of security enhancements. Among them are accelerating and increasing defense assistance to Israel over the next decade; increasing the U.S...
The Christian Zionist organization Proclaiming Justice to the Nations (PJTN) convened a special session at the United Nations in New York City on Aug. 11 to help Christians learn more about the impact of genocidal anti-Semitism. "Our goal for the program was to reach ambassadors of predominately Christian nations and to help them understand anti-Semitism and how to deal with it," Laurie Cardoza-Moore, president of PJTN, told JNS.org. The session was attended by diplomats from 13 countries:...
Mayim Bialik: Being religious isn’t trendy in Hollywood (JTA)—People of faith working in Hollywood are often out of step with the entertainment industry, American actress Mayim Bialik said. “I think in general it’s never going to be trendy to be observant or religious in Hollywood circles,” Bialik, 39, told Fox411 in an interview broadcast over the weekend. “There are people I know of faith and we tend to congregate together. I study Jewish texts weekly. That’s something really positive to me when you’re a person of faith, it stays with you...
(JTA)—The general council of a large Canadian church network voted in favor of promoting a boycott against institutions complicit in what it called the illegal occupation of Palestinian land. At its 42nd annual gathering, the council of the United Church of Canada voted last week in favor of the text on Israel, its website reported. The resolution passed was in favor of ““initiating and developing a program of education and advocacy in cooperation with our partners, related to divestment from and economic sanctions against all corporations and...
NITZAN B, Israel (JTA)-Ask Aviel Eliaz and Itzik Wazana about their evacuation from Gaza 10 years ago this month and both will tell you it's like a tree. For Eliaz, it's an olive tree sitting in a large pot in his front yard. He planted the tree in 2000 at his former home in the Gaza settlement of Nisanit, only to uproot it when Israel withdrew from the coastal strip. Uprooted, too, were the strip's 8,000 residents. His family was resettled along with hundreds of others in this city of cheap...
(JTA)-Among his rationales for opposing the nuclear deal with Iran, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said that he did not trust the three European Union partners to punish Iran should it violate the terms of the accord that offers the Islamic Republic sanctions relief in exchange for scaling back its nuclear activities. The New York Democrat's assertion served as a reminder that while Washington has been the driving force behind the deal, which was reached July 14 between Iran and six world powers,...
Business Class on EL AL Israel Airlines now features newly upgraded bed-like seats and Economy Class Plus offers more comfort for excellent value. Both of these offerings are available on EL AL flights departing the U.S. “We continuously strive to provide additional options and improvements, maximum comfort, as well as superb in-flight service,” states EL AL vice president and general manager, North and Central America, Shmuel Kuzi. “This is part of our ongoing strategy to further enrich the overall passenger experience.” Newly upgrade...
Matisyahu ousted from Spanish festival for not endorsing Palestinian state (JTA)—Matisyahu was disinvited from a Spanish music festival because he would not publicly endorse Palestinian statehood. The Jewish-American reggae singer was scheduled to perform Aug. 22 at the Rototom Sunsplash festival in Benicassim, near Barcelona. But his show was canceled after he refused to release a public statement backing a Palestinian state, according to the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain, which called the disinvitation a case of “anti-Semitic cow...
According to a CNN news release, Sen. Chuck Schumer, an influential Jewish Democrat who's poised to assume leadership of his party in the Senate, will oppose President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran. "After deep study, careful thought and considerable soul-searching, I have decided I must oppose the agreement and will vote yes on a motion of disapproval," Schumer wrote in a 1,600-word post on the website Medium that posted during the first Republican presidential debate. "I will vote to...
NEW YORK (JTA)—The Iran nuclear deal will pave the path to Iranian nuclear weapons whether or not Iran keeps its end of the agreement, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Iran could get to the bomb by keeping the deal, or Iran could get to the bomb by violating the deal,” Netanyahu said in an address to more than 16,000 viewers Aug. 4 during a Federation webcast on the Iran agreement, co-sponsored by Jewish Federations across North America and the member organizations of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewis...
On Aug. 4, Sen. Bill Nelson (Dem., Fla.) announced his decision on the Iranian nuclear agreement. The following are excerpt from his speech. "Unless there is an unexpected change in conditions and facts before the vote is called in September, I will support the nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 (U.S., France, U.K., Russia, China, Germany) because I am convinced it will stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon for at least the next 10 to 15 years. No other available alternative...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Three top Jewish Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives came out in opposition to the Iran nuclear deal. Reps. Nita Lowey and Steve Israel, both of New York, and Ted Deutch of Florida announced their opposition on Tuesday afternoon. Lowey is the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee; Deutch is the top Democrat on the House Middle East subcommittee; and Israel until last year led the House Democratic reelection effort. They are the first leading Democrats...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Congress has until mid- to late September to consider whether to reject the nuclear restrictions for the sanctions rollback deal reached by Iran and six major powers on July 14. Some of the debate is over the meaning of certain provisions in the accord. Here's a breakdown of differences in how the sides interpret parts of the deal. The 24 days All sides agree that the deal has a rigorous inspections regime for Iran's known sites: "24/7" scrutiny, as President Barack Obama has...
Jewish Agency pulling out of Israel-world Jewry initiative (JTA)—The Jewish Agency for Israel will pull out of a large-scale initiative launched two years ago to connect Diaspora Jewry with Israel. In a letter Aug. 6 to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu obtained by JTA, Natan Sharansky and Charles Ratner—the chairman and board chairman, respectively, of the Jewish Agency—wrote that their organization would stop cooperating in the project known as the Joint Initiative of the Government of Israel and World Jewry. The initiative’s goal wa...
CAIRO (JTA)-It's been a particularly challenging summer for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. Within one week in late June and early July, his attorney general was assassinated in the upscale Cairo suburb of Heliopolis and an Islamic State affiliate launched a two-day siege in the North Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid. But just days after the bloody Sinai battle, Sisi put aside two hours to meet with a delegation from the American Jewish Committee, the global Jewish advocacy group, and then...
By Uriel Heilman NEW YORK (JTA)-There have been three major polls of American Jews since the announcement of the nuclear deal between world powers and Iran-by the L.A. Jewish Journal, The Israel Project and J Street-all with significantly different results. Two show U.S. Jewish support for the Iran nuclear deal outpacing opposition to the deal by 20 percentage points: 48-28 according to the Jewish Journal, and 60-40 according to J Street. The Israel Project survey showed slightly more...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-President Barack Obama will not alter the terms of Jonathan Pollard's parole once he is released, a signal that Israel's struggle to bring him to the country whose citizenship he has assumed will outlast his November release date. "Mr. Pollard will serve his sentence as mandated by statute for the very serious crimes he committed," Alistair Baskey, a National Security Council spokesman, said in a statement emailed to JTA. "The president has no intention of altering the terms of...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Few communities were as battered during last summer's conflict between Israel and Hamas as Nahal Oz, a kibbutz of some 350 people located just a mile from the Gaza border. At one point in the fighting, 40 missiles landed on the community in a single day. Hamas militants attempting to infiltrate the kibbutz through a tunnel killed five Israeli soldiers. For much of the war, families with young children were evacuated to other communities far from the fighting. And just four days...
TEL AVIV (JTA)—The murder of a 16-year old girl at Jerusalem’s gay pride parade has sparked calls for LGBT-rights legislation—as well as pushback from those who oppose it. Shira Banki died Sunday after being stabbed while marching in the parade on Thursday night. Five others were wounded in the stabbing. “It never crossed our mind that Shira would be murdered as a symbol,” her parents said in a eulogy Monday, according to a copy of the text on the Israeli news site Ynet. “An unnecessary death of a young girl, innocent and full of good intent...
Key Democrat Adam Schiff, ex-Rep. Barney Frank back Iran nuclear deal WASHINGTON (JTA)—Rep. Adam Schiff, a key Democrat in the political battle over the Iran nuclear deal, is backing the agreement, as is a former senior Jewish lawmaker, Rep. Barney Frank. In a statement Monday, Schiff, of California, outlined what he saw as the pluses of the sanctions relief for nuclear restrictions deal, including intrusive inspections and the ability to reimpose sanctions should Iran violate the deal, and its drawbacks, including limited access to military s...
By Deborah Fineblum Schabb JNS.org What weighs 400 pounds, is necessary for the establishment of the Third Temple, hasn't been seen in 2,000 years, and is completely red? If you guessed "para aduma," or the red heifer, give yourself a hand. And keep your eyes on Israel's Negev desert. That's because by this time next year, if a team of rabbis, activists, and a dairy farmer have their way, you may find there a candidate-or even more than one-qualified to perform a key function in the greatly...
Jewish women representing and supporting the pluralistic prayer group Women of the Wall gathered at the Kotel on Rosh Chodesh Friday morning, July 17. However, cries of disapproval from the religious community overpowered their service. "We want to abolish the discriminatory regulations that are preventing women from praying freely at the Western Wall," said Shira Pruce, director of public relations for the group. "That means allowing women access to Sefer Torah that will sit here," she added,...
TEL AVIV (JTA)—When the United States frees convicted spy Jonathan Pollard in November, many in Israel will celebrate the moment for which they have fought and hoped. What Pollard’s release won’t do, officials and analysts say, is make most Israelis feel any better about the nuclear deal with Iran. Pollard, who was convicted in 1985 of sending classified information to Israel while working at the U.S. Department of Defense, will be released on parole in November, The Associated Press report Tuesday. A report last Friday in The Wall Stree...
In historic acquisition, Israel’s Teva to pay $40.5B for Allergan generics JERUSALEM (JTA)—Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. will buy Allergan’s generic drug unit for $40.5 billion in what is believed to be the largest acquisition by an Israeli company. Both companies announced the transaction on Monday. The deal, in cash and stock, will close in the first quarter of 2016, according to Teva, and bolster the Jerusalem-based firm’s standing as the largest generic drug company in the world. The acquisition will “provide patients and consumers...
NEW YORK (JTA)-Fewer than 800 miles from our shores, a deeply disturbing crisis is unfolding as tens of thousands of citizens of the Dominican Republic face deportation from their country simply because of their heritage. Tragically, people of Haitian descent who were born in the Dominican Republic have been stripped of their rights and their citizenship, and are living in a state of legal limbo. These people are not all recent immigrants, as the Dominican government would have you believe, but come from families that have been living in the...
