Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA)-After the smoke clears from this contentious Israeli election, which amounted to a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's tenure, it appears that Netanyahu will again be asked by Israeli President Rivlin to form the next government. How did he win again? As Israel's former U.S. Ambassador Michael Oren said, "Our economy is excellent, our foreign relations were never better, and we're secure... we know him, the world knows him-even our enemies know him." Unlike American voters,... Full story
Israel approves thousands of new West Bank housing units By Marcy Oster JERUSALEM (JTA)—A Defense Ministry committee approved plans for the construction of at least 3,659 new housing units in the West Bank. It is the largest group of West Bank housing units advanced since President Donald Trump took office in January 2017. The Trump administration is expected to roll out an Israel-Palestinian peace plan after the Israeli elections. Some 73 percent of the units, or 2,656, are in settlements that Israel likely will have to evacuate under a perman... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Trump administration officials have been silent and notably leak-free about what exactly is in the Middle East peace plan that Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is shaping-until now. In speeches to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, it became clear that the plan will likely not accommodate a Palestinian state, or at least the sovereignty that attaches to statehood. David Friedman, Trump's ambassador to Israel and one of three members of the peace team, in his AIPAC... Full story
(JNS)—U.S. special envoy Jason Greenblatt blasted the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations for aiding and abetting the Palestinian financial payments towards terrorists and their families. In a closed-door U.N. Security Council meeting on Friday, instigated by Indonesia and Kuwait, Greenblatt defended Israel’s choice last month to reduce Palestinian tax revenues due to the P.A.’s “pay to slay” initiative, which has been a primary obstacle in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, sources told The Washington Free Beac... Full story
Maxwell House is offering a ‘Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ Haggadah By JTA staff (JTA)—Real life tradition and television nostalgia collide in a collaboration between the venerable Maxwell House Haggadah and the hit Amazon series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” The coffee company is offering a limited edition version of its Haggadah featuring illustrations and other shtick based on the show about an aspiring Jewish comedian and her extended family of Jewish relatives in late 1950s New York. The “Maisel” Haggadah is a throwback to an earlier edition of th... Full story
The Israeli SpaceIL spacecraft Beresheet - Hebrew for Genesis - is on the moon, but not in the way that was hoped. Beresheet snapped its first "selfie," with the help of NASA, as it was landing, 22 kilometers (13.67 miles) from the surface. Then it was over. Apparently it crashed on the moon's surface after traveling 47 days and 6.5 million kilometers (4,038,912.75 miles) through space. In the last few moments before it was to land, communication was lost, then recovered. Then the main engine... Full story
(JTA) - Benjamin Netanyahu appears likely to win a fifth term as Israel's prime minister as right-wing parties apparently have maintained their majority in the nationwide elections held Tuesday. With more than 95 percent of the vote counted, Netanyahu's Likud party and the opposition Blue and White party are virtually tied with more than 1 million votes apiece. According to Israeli news websites, each party is likely to win 35 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament. Despite the tie,... Full story
(JNS)-The formal recognition of Israel's sovereignty in the Golan Heights by the United States could not have come on a more sobering day for Israelis. As rockets were being launched deep into the central Israel by the terror group Hamas in Gaza, the importance of the Golan Heights for Israel's security was on full display. In his remarks at the formal signing of the presidential proclamation at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. President Donald Trump that the... Full story
(JNS)—The Hamas rocket that shattered a village home in the Sharon district of central Israel, north of Tel Aviv early on morning of March 25, is an attack that for Israeli leadership represents a step too far. Eleven days after Hamas fired two rockets in the direction of Tel Aviv—in what it claimed was “an accidental” maintenance error—this time, it appears as if the organization’s addiction to gambling and upping the ante to extract concessions from Israel has led it to commit a serious mistake, one that will come with punishing repercussio... Full story
(JNS)—Russia, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iraq criticized the United States for recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, following a ceremony attended by U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. The ceremony featured the signing of an official proclamation, and was also attended by Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The pen Trump used to sign the declaration was handed to Netanyahu as a gift for the Israeli people. “In a blatant attack on the sov... Full story
(JTA)-President Donald Trump recently signed a proclamation recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Here's what you need to know about the Golan Heights, the 52-year argument over the plateau and why Trump's proclamation is a big deal for Israel's upcoming election. What is the Golan Heights? The Golan Heights is a territory in Israel's northeast corner, on the Syrian border. It's rural, mountainous and mostly empty. Fewer than 50,000 people live there-less than 1 percent of... Full story
(JNS)—The Young Progressives of America at Brooklyn College and the Brooklyn College Islamic Society & Muslim Women’s Educational Initiative held a vigil on Friday, memorializing the 50 Muslim worshippers murdered in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15 with students chanting terrorist slogans. The Instagram account of the Brooklyn College Student Union clearly displays students chanting, “Long Live the Intifada!” Additionally, an unidentified student accurately mentioned that there were six Palestinians who were killed in the shootin... Full story
(MEMRI via JNS)—Palestinian cleric Abu Taqi Al-Din Al-Dari said in an Al-Aqsa mosque address that was uploaded to the Internet on March 12, 2019, that young people in Germany and France do not value marriage as much as Muslims do, but that this is not the reason that France will become an Islamic country. Rather, he explained, France will become an Islamic country through jihad, since Muslims must have a country that will bring Islam’s guidance and message to the West. He gave examples of times in history when countries in the West and Asi... Full story
(JNS)—Iran could be trying to build missile factories in Syria again, according to recent reports, raising the possibility of further Israeli preemptive action. The Israeli commercial satellite company ImageSat International (ISI) published images this month showing suspicious activity at a compound in Safita in northwest Syria. “The construction patterns, the compound location and the activity signs at the compound and its region increase the probability that this is a missiles manufacturing site,” ISI assessed. Israel remains committed to the... Full story
(JNS)—Daniel Wolf, whose home was hit by a long-range missile from Gaza on Monday, said although his family home was destroyed in the attack, “a lot of miracles happened” that ultimately spared the family from death. “We are in shock, but the most important thing is that we are all OK,” Daniel Wolf told Channel 13 from the hospital. “It was traumatic. After the explosion, there was silence, dust and screaming. Destruction everywhere.” The Wolfs, who live in Mishmeret north of Tel Aviv, faintly heard the siren just after 5 a.m. “When I heard the... Full story
Israeli spacecraft ‘Beresheet’ sends new images to Earth (JNS)—Fresh images and video were transmitted to Earth from the Israeli spacecraft “Beresheet” as it makes its way to the moon, announced SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries on Sunday. SpaceIL and IAI engineering teams, based in Israel, have downloaded new images and videos from the spacecraft. The photos and videos were taken by the spacecraft at different heights and times. One of the videos includes a sunrise from the spacecraft’s viewpoint—the Earth can be seen hiding the sun from... Full story
(JTA)-It wasn't so long ago that most major Israeli politicians supported establishing a Palestinian state. Now it's not clear that any of them do, including the current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu began his political career in the 1970s opposing a Palestinian state, an idea that once had been off the table but was gaining traction. Three decades later, in 2009, he gave a pivotal speech endorsing the idea in principle. In 2015, however, Netanyahu retreated from the idea on the... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Adam Milstein, a major pro-Israel funder, has withdrawn from speaking at the annual AIPAC policy conference following a series of tweets in which he accused two Muslim lawmakers of clashing with "American values." The American Israel Public Affairs Committee distanced itself from Milstein. Milstein, the chairman of the Israeli American Council, said his views as expressed on Twitter had been "mischaracterized." "My social media postings represent my views-and my views alone,"... Full story
(JTA)-Portugal used to be little more than a sunny holiday destination to Adam Perry, a 46-year-old Londoner who works in procurement. But following the United Kingdom's 2016 vote to leave the European Union, Perry, who is a Sephardic Jew, applied for citizenship in the Iberian nation. Since 2015, legislation there and in Spain allows for the naturalization of descendants of refugees persecuted 500 years ago. Amid growing uncertainty over Brexit, whose deadline is March 29 (for now), applying... Full story
US Jewish communities support Muslim neighbors at prayer services and vigils By Marcy Oster (JTA)—Jewish communities throughout the United States attended vigils and services at mosques in their communities to express support and concern in the wake of the murder by a white supremacist of at least 50 Muslim worshipers at two New Zealand mosques. The Levine Center to End Hate and the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester organized members of the Jewish community to stand outside of the Islamic Center of Rochester on Sunday to show support a... Full story
(Research Institute for European and American Studies via JNS)-Nearly eight years into the civil war in Syria, the government forces led by Syrian President Bashar Assad-and supported by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah-have regained control of the majority of Syria. As the war appears to wind down, diplomatic efforts are being made by the Assad regime and Arab countries to normalize relations. The victory of the Assad regime, Russian regional influence, the withdrawal of American forces from Syria,... Full story
AMSTERDAM (JTA)-The Netherlands' main Jewish weekly is the kingdom's oldest commercial magazine and one of its most reputable publications. Which is why many Dutch were shocked to read a column Tuesday by its editor announcing that she is leaving for Israel because of rising anti-Semitism here. "I am leaving for the only country where getting called a dirty Jew simply means I have to take a bath," wrote Esther Voet, the longtime editor in chief of the 155-year-old Nieuw Israelietisch Weekblad.... Full story
(JNS)—Israel’s Supreme Court banned Otzma Yehudit candidate Michael Ben-Ari from running in the upcoming national elections—the first time Israel’s highest court has ever prevented a single individual from running in an Israeli election—in opposition to a decision by the Central Elections Committee. In an 8-1 vote, the Supreme Court voted in favor of a petition to disqualify Ben-Ari due to anti-Arab beliefs and incitement. The court’s decision had been urged by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and represents the first time that the Supreme... Full story
REHOVOT, ISRAEL— The main scientific instrument on board the Israeli Beresheet spacecraft, the SpaceIL Magnetometer, has now been successfully turned on in space and data returned to Earth. After its successful launch, Beresheet is circling Earth on its journey to the Moon. Prof. Oded Aharonson of the Weizmann Institute of Science is heading the team that is currently analyzing the SILMAG information to evaluate the health and accuracy of the instrument in space, as well as recording the magnetic signature of the spacecraft itself, which w... Full story
(JNS)-Last Thursday night's twin rocket attack on greater Tel Aviv from the Gaza Strip marks a dramatic escalation of the security situation that could prove to be highly costly for Hamas. While it remains unclear at the time of this writing which terrorist organization is responsible for the rockets, the attacks represent a break from the past months of controlled escalation, a policy led by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The symbolism involved in firing on Israel's largest metropolis and economic... Full story
