Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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WASHINGTON (JTA)—Vice President Mike Pence said that unless the Iran nuclear deal is fixed in the “coming months,” the United States would withdraw from it. Pence made the promise, to cheers, during his address Monday night to the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington, D.C. The deal, which was signed in 2015 by Iran, the United States and a group of other world powers, curbs Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. President Donald Trump opposes the agreement. In October, he declined to... Full story
Milos Zeman, recently elected to his second five-year term as president of the Czech Republic, would like to speed up the process of moving his country’s embassy to Jerusalem, the Lidové noviny newspaper reported. The Americans announced in February that as an initial step they would be turning their consulate in Jerusalem into an embassy on May 14, coinciding with Israel’s 70th anniversary. Daniel Meron, Israel’s ambassador to Prague, tweeted that according to the Czech paper, Zeman would like his country to join US President Donald Trump... Full story
(JNS)—In a bid to end the contentious debate surrounding Poland’s controversial Holocaust law, the Simon Wiesenthal Center released a declassified report on Thursday highlighting Polish complicity in persecuting Jews during the Holocaust. The U.S. State Department report from May 15, 1946—released by the Simon Wiesenthal Center on the same day that the Polish Holocaust law went into effect—found “evidence that Poles persecuted the Jews as vigorously as did the Germans.” The report, declassified in 1983, found that “native Poles” took p... Full story
(JTA)-A prestigious think tank on tolerance comprising former European leaders honored Prince Albert II of Monaco for his apology for his country's treatment of Jews during the Holocaust, among other actions. The European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation on Tuesday bestowed its European Medal of Tolerance on the head of state of the principality sandwiched between France and Italy, who in 2015 acknowledged his country's rounding up and deportation of 66 Jews in 1942."You have found the... Full story
Trump administration ready to make Mideast peace plan public (JTA)—The Trump administration is finishing up its Middle East peace plan and intends to make it public soon, The New York Times reported. The White House must now figure out how to present the plan so that it is not immediately rejected by the Palestinians, the newspaper reported, citing three unnamed senior administration officials. An unnamed senior aide to President Donald Trump compared the plan to Waze, the Israeli-developed traffic navigation software. According to the r... Full story
VIENNA (JTA)-Until December, Milli Segal's main challenge as a producer of Jewish-themed events in Austria was balancing her duties at work with her hands-on approach to being a Jewish grandmother of four. As an organizer of prestigious Holocaust commemoration projects, Segal, 63, is on a first-name basis with some of the country's most senior politicians, and draws on 20 years of experience to prevent or solve most any complication. Last year alone, she headed the communications efforts around... Full story
President Donald Trump says he may visit Israel in May for the opening of a new US Embassy in Jerusalem. Trump commented during an Oval Office meeting Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The new embassy is set to open in May, and Trump says he’ll head to Israel for the dedication ceremony “if I can.” A ribbon-cutting for an interim facility is being planned to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s independence. Trump also said his embassy decision was “appreciated in a big part of the world.” Netanyahu arrived at... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a simple, straightforward message this week when he toured Israel's border with Syria and Lebanon with top security officials. "Our face is turned toward peace, we are ready for any eventuality, and I don't suggest anyone test us," he said Tuesday in a video message he posted on Twitter, the sound of helicopter blades whirring in the background. The mixed message signaled Israel's ambivalence about taking on the terrorist group... Full story
(JNS)-After years of bloody warfare, Syria has become a "Shi'a colony of Iran," a Syrian professor who lives in Germany told an Israeli conference in recent days. Addressing the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, Bassam Tibi, professor emeritus of international relations at Georg-August University of Gottingen, said: "They have killed our clans. They have killed our family. The Alawites of the Assad regime have killed our Sunni identity of Damascus." Tibi, a... Full story
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs via JNS The battle for the succession of Mahmoud Abbas in the Palestinian Authority is heating up. This was apparent from Fatah Secretary-General Jibril Rajoub's recent attack on Egypt, which supports the candidacy of Palestinian politician Muhammad Dahlan for the position of next PA chairman. The Israeli security forces are concerned about a possible bloodbath in the West Bank as soon as Mahmoud Abbas leaves office. The "bombshell" that Jibril Rajoub, secreta... Full story
(JNS)-The granddaughter of former longtime U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman has immigrated to Israel. Nesya Lieberman, 20, made aliyah on Tuesday through the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization, in partnership with the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency of Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael and the Jewish National Fund-USA. Nesya, formerly of Atlanta, will join an ulpan, learning Hebrew at Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu before beginning a year of national service work. "I've wanted to make aliyah ever... Full story
Privately and off the record, US Ambassador David Friedman gave a pessimistic assessment of issues surrounding a possible peace deal with the Palestinians to a group of officials from the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations, according to a Channel 10 News report Monday. "We do not want to raise expectations about the chances of reaching a peace agreement too much. We are realistic. We want a peace agreement, but we know that this would not destroy Hezbollah or ISIS,"... Full story
(JTA)-The row between Poland and Israel about the Holocaust reached new heights this week after Poland's prime minister said that the genocide had not only Polish, Ukrainian and German perpetrators, but Jewish ones as well. Addressing a new law that criminalizes blaming Poland for Nazi crimes, Mateusz Morawiecki said in an interview Saturday that the law's effects would not be as sweeping as its critics complain. "It's not going to be seen as criminal to say that there were Polish perpetrators,... Full story
(JTA)—Benjamin Netanyahu is in trouble. Maybe. The Israeli prime minister is engulfed simultaneous in four separate scandals, and each day seems to bring him more bad news. Netanyahu could be indicted or pushed out of office -- or both. Whether this is the beginning of the end of the Bibi Netanyahu era, or just the latest challenge to a seasoned political survivor, is the hot topic in Israel. First, Netanyahu was accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal gifts from a wealthy American. Then he was accused of making a s... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Sheldon Adelson’s offer to help pay for the new US Embassy in Jerusalem is getting a thumb’s down from a range of observers who support the embassy’s relocation. The Associated Press had the exclusive on Friday morning, and JTA confirmed it with sources who have been apprised of the State Department’s deliberations. State Department lawyers are poring over the law books to determine how to pull off America’s first privately funded embassy. Why the Trump administration would want this? Well, no one’s saying, but cost-cutting... Full story
Trump says he may attend Jerusalem embassy opening WASHINGTON (JTA)—President Donald Trump said he may be present in Jerusalem when the U.S. Embassy opens in May. “We’re looking at coming,” Trump said Monday in opening his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, D.C. “If I can, I will” Trump said last month that the embassy move from Tel Aviv would take place in May, timed with Israel’s 70th anniversary, following his recognition in December that Jerusalem is the capital. He is also planning to build a new embassy... Full story
The most offensive attacks made by Palestinians and their supporters against Israelis are comparisons to the Nazis. These analogies demonstrate a profound ignorance of history—and a malicious hatred of Jews. As an educational service to these ignoramuses and propagandists, I would like to provide some examples of what the Nazis did to the Jews. First, I must apologize for the graphic nature of some of the examples, but they were purposely chosen because they are so horrific that they are not often discussed. The discussion of the Holocaust is o... Full story
(Israel Hayom / Exclusive to JNS via JNS)—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday hailed a recently announced US plan to relocate the American Embassy in Israel from its current abode in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as early as May of this year, calling the move “a great moment for the State of Israel.” “President Trump’s decision to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem will make our Independence Day celebration even happier,” Netanyahu said, noting that the planned relocation will coincide with the celebrations of the 70th anniversary o... Full story
(JNS)-US Reps. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.) and David B. McKinley (R-W.Va.) no doubt anticipated an eye-opening experience when they visited the Temple Mount on Thursday as part of their current trip to Israel. So imagine their surprise when they were detained by Israel police after an Islamic Waqf official, which administers the Temple Mount, lodged a complaint against them. It appears that they violated some unknown rule when Tipton bent down to pick up a broken olive branch off the ground. His... Full story
(JNS)—The United States will move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14, in time for Israel’s 70th anniversary, according to a State Department official. Steven Goldstein, undersecretary of State for public diplomacy, said on Friday that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had approved a security plan for a “facility” in Jerusalem, the Associated Press reported. “We’re looking at that as a possible date, but safety of the Marines and other people who visit and work there is primary,” said Goldstein. According to the preliminary p... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—An impression of what is believed to be the 2,700-year-old personal seal of the prophet Isaiah was uncovered in Jerusalem. Isaiah lived during the eighth century BCE and prophesized about the return of the Jews from the Babylonian exile. Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar of the Hebrew University reported on her discovery Thursday in the Biblical Archaeology Review magazine. The impression of the seal, or bulla, was found during excavations in the area just below the southern wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The seal was f... Full story
Trump administration to move US Embassy to Jerusalem in May, Israel’s 70th birthday WASHINGTON (JTA)—The Trump administration will formally move the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv in May to coincide with Israel’s 70th anniversary. “We’re planning to open the new US Embassy to Israel in Jerusalem in May,” a State Department spokesman told JTA in an email. “The Embassy opening will coincide with Israel’s 70th anniversary.” The spokesman did not reveal a specific date, but May 14 would mark 70 years since Israel’s establishment. The... Full story
(JNS)—The annual funding Israel receives from the United States may be increased by $200 million in 2019, according to President Donald Trump’s fiscal year budget request. Israel is expected to receive $3.3 billion in 2019. The requested funds are the result of a $38 billion 10-year memorandum of understanding signed between Israel and the United States at the end of President Barack Obama’s term in office. The additional proposed funds are being apportioned to provide “assistance to bolster Israel’s capacity to defend itself and maintain its q... Full story
(JTA)—The pluralistic youth movement BBYO will expand its Jewish learning programs with the help of a $3.9 million grant. On Wednesday, BBYO announced that it had received the grant from the Maimonides Fund, which supports initiatives related to education and Jewish identity in North America and Israel. The grant will be used to to hire educators, speakers and song leaders to work with BBYO’s teen participants at the group’s international convention, weekend retreats and summer camps, the group said in a statement. It will also support Israe... Full story
(JNS)-Israel's Knesset voted Feb. 11 to make Ariel University in Samaria the state's ninth accredited institution of higher learning. The vote officially places the university under the auspices of Israel's Council for Higher Education. Parliamentarians voted in favor of the bill, 56-35. Full accreditation will enable Ariel University to advance plans to develop a medical school. Ariel, one of Israel's largest Jewish settlements, has approximately 20,000 residents. Accreditation of the... Full story
