Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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TEL AVIV (JTA)-Israel's new "nation-state" law, which is widely viewed here as clumsy, unnecessary and unwise, must be amended. That's why I was proud to join tens of thousands of Israelis on Saturday night in a peaceful, unifying protest led by the Druze community. I came to this city's Rabin Square to stand with the Druze, with whom I fought to protect the State of Israel. But I also came to celebrate Israeli democracy; the public's commitment to equality and democratic values; our independent... Full story
By Ben Sales (JTA)-The statement, issued the day Israel passed a controversial bill defining itself as a Jewish nation-state, could have come from any number of liberal American Jewish groups. "We condemn this despicable law, as well as the anti-gay surrogacy law the Knesset recently enacted, and the detainment of Rabbi Dov Haiyun for conducting a non-Orthodox marriage," the July 19 statement said. "These anti-democratic and nativist actions make it more imperative to support the progressive... Full story
Israeli equestrian rider withdraws from world championships due to conflict with Yom Kippur JERUSALEM (JTA)—An Israeli equestrian rider has withdrawn from next month’s world championships because the competition will take place on Yom Kippur. The International Equestrian Federation event, which will take place this year in North Carolina, is a prelude to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where Israel’s equestrian federation hopes to compete for the first time. Israeli rider Dan Kramer sent a letter earlier this month to the international feder... Full story
(JNS)—U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Thursday the founding of the Iran Action Group, which will “be responsible for directing, reviewing and coordinating all aspects of the State Department’s Iran-related activity.” “For nearly 40 years, the regime in Tehran has been responsible for a torrent of violent and destabilizing behavior against the United States, our allies, our partners, and indeed, the Iranian people themselves,” said Pompeo. “Our hope is that one day soon we can reach a new agreement with Iran. But we must see m... Full story
A hostel in Jerusalem’s Old City has published a list of “haters of Israel” who have been banned “because of crimes committed against the Jewish people,” drawing derision and ridicule from those blacklisted. The Jerusalem Heritage House describes itself as an institution that provides “warm and comfortable accommodations for Jewish travelers in the heart of the Old City for a nominal fee.” It boasts of having hosted more than 60,000 guests since 1985. Posted on Twitter by journalist Jacob Kornbluh, the list includes figures such as comedian Jon... Full story
and United with Israel US President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act on Monday, which includes $550 million in assistance to Israel and temporarily halts the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. This comes amid tensions between Washington and Ankara, which is currently holding an American pastor hostage, among other political moves. The $717 billion Act includes a bipartisan measure honoring a decade-long Memorandum of Understanding between America and Israel, with the US giving $3.8 billion annually to the Jewish stat... Full story
The first mention in JTA of the Hebrew word “hasbarah” was in 1988, at the height of the first intifada. The article focused on Israelis and American Jews and their deep concern that the media were distorting the unrest and showing the Israeli military in a bad light. The answer, interviewees agreed, was better “hasbarah”—a Hebrew word, explained the author (OK, it was me), “whose meaning falls somewhere between information and propaganda.” “Israel has never actually looked at hasbarah as an integral part of policymaking,” said Dan Pattir,... Full story
(JTA)-It's gotta hurt when the guy who used to fund your political career writes two op-eds criticizing you in The New York Times. Benjamin Netanyahu would know-that's what's happening to him right now. On Monday, Netanyahu was the target of a scathing column by Ronald Lauder, the cosmetics heir who heads the World Jewish Congress. Lauder lamented Israel's recent nation-state law, which Netanyahu defends as a safeguard of Israel's Jewish character but critics see as a slap in the face to the... Full story
(JNS)-The future of prayer at the Western Wall has become one of the most contentious issues among Diaspora Jewry in the past year, mainly as a result of the Israeli government's June 2017, suspension of a plan, which would have changed the status quo at one of Judaism's holiest site. Leaders of Diaspora Jewry from the non-Orthodox streams, along with the Women of the Wall organization, a group that holds monthly controversial prayer services at the Western Wall, were enraged by the last-minute... Full story
Trump says Israel will have a prime minister named Mohammed if there is a one-state solution JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israelis eventually will have a prime minister named Mohammed if there is a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, President Donald Trump reportedly told King Abdullah of Jordan. According to Axios, Abdullah informed French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian of Trump’s remarks during a meeting in Amman earlier this month, recalling how he told his American counterpart that “many young Palestinians don’t want the two... Full story
As of early Thursday morning, Hamas has fired about 150 rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip, the IDF stated. The IDF retaliated by targeting a number of sites used by the Hamas and other terror organizations operating in Gaza. Since Wednesday evening, the Iron Dome has intercepted 25 rockets. The Eshkol Regional Council said early Thursday morning that a 30-year-old woman was seriously injured when a rocket hit a greenhouse where she was working. Prof. Yochanan Pfizer, deputy director of Sorok... Full story
(JNS)-The security escalation in southern Israel and the Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours shows that Hamas is prepared to take the region to the brink of war, and that it believes it can force new rules of conduct on Israel while paying a minimal price for its aggression. Its actions have placed the region in danger of a major new conflict. Hamas's leadership is dangling the option of a long-term truce before Israel with one hand and firing barrages of rockets at southern Israel with the... Full story
(JTA)—Following Swedish pro-Palestinian activists’ failed attempt to reach Gaza by sea, a Christian supporter of Israel from Sweden announced he would take dozens of pro-Zionists to Israel on his yacht. Stefan Abrahamsson announced Thursday on Facebook that his yacht, Elida, will set sail from Sweden on Aug. 25 to Israel to show solidarity with the Jewish state and Middle East Christians. “We want to break the silence of the severe persecution and cleansing of the Christian population that is taking place in this region,” he wrote. “As the... Full story
(JNS)—A new poll of Palestinians shows that more than 60 percent agree that the Palestinian Authority should not engage in negotiations with Israel mediated by the United States, according to results published on Monday. Overseen by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, the poll, which was conducted among 1,200 Arabs from Judea, Samaria and Gaza from June 26 to July 7, revealed that 45.6 percent of Palestinians oppose renewing negotiations with Israel. If presidential elections were held on the day of the survey, more than a third s... Full story
(JNS)-An incendiary kite landed in an Israeli vineyard in Samaria on Monday, starting an arson fire. The kite landed in the Tura Winery near Mount Gerizim in Samaria, close to the Tomb of Joseph, the biblical son of Jacob whose bones were buried in Israel following the Jewish exodus from Egypt. Though a fire was started, it was quickly extinguished and harm to the vineyard was prevented. According to Hadashot news, Palestinians in Judea and Samaria have begun utilizing the terrorist ploy... Full story
BEIT SHEMESH, Israel (JTA)-Built in the 1990s in part to ease crowding in haredi Orthodox neighborhoods elsewhere in Israel, Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet is both an Orthodox boom town and a site of ongoing tensions between different streams of religious Jews. National-religious Jews have long complained of harassment by members of the haredi community, who style themselves as enforcers of strict codes for dress and conduct. Now there is another front in the simmering battle: several dozen haredi... Full story
(JNS)—Under the expert guidance of IDF Home Front Command, Israeli hospitals across the country are shoring up their ability to shift into war mode should a sudden conflict erupt without prior warning. In such a scenario, hospitals could, like the rest of the country, find themselves under heavy fire, yet still must be able to provide life-saving care for existing patients and the war-wounded. On Thursday, the Ziv Medical Center in Tzfat in northern Israel held an intensive drill, simulating a situation in which it came under heavy rocket f... Full story
Stephen Miller’s uncle calls him an ‘immigration hypocrite’ (JTA)—The uncle of Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, has accused his nephew of being an “immigration hypocrite” who supports policies that would have condemned his own Jewish family to death if they had been enacted a century ago. Writing in Politico, Miller’s maternal uncle David Glosser described how Miller’s great-great-grandfather Wolf-Leib Glosser fled the Belarusian shtetl of Antopol, arriving in the United States in 1903 “with $8 to his name.” “In the s... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—A team tasked with formulating a plan to address the Druze community’s discomfort with the nation-state law has presented its recommendations three days after it was assembled. The findings presented Wednesday will be turned over to a newly established ministerial committee chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that will oversee its advancement and implementation. The controversial law with quasi-constitutional status passed last week enshrines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. The law identifies Ara... Full story
(JNS)-Israel's newest air-defense system, David's Sling, made the headlines this week after going into action for the first time on the border with Syria. Although it appeared not to strike the target-in this case, two short-range missiles fired by the Assad regime against a rebel region near the Israeli border-that should not be seen as a major setback, defense experts have told JNS. Produced by Israeli defense company Rafael, in partnership with American defense firm Raytheon, the David's... Full story
(JNS)-When you drive into Israel's Sha'ar HaNegev Region in the northwestern Negev, the fields are burnt and black. The trees are broken, and the smell of acrid smoke stings the eyes and nose. "It is a very upsetting view," said Zeev Meidan, general manager of the Israeli Honey Council. Meidan, who in the past was employed as a beekeeper at the area's Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, has been spending extra time in the southern district to support the region's honey farmers, many of whom have been the... Full story
EFRAT, West Bank (JTA)-Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee laid bricks in a new neighborhood in this settlement in a ceremony Wednesday that took its language and cues from Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" rhetoric. During the ceremony in Efrat's Tamar neighborhood, organizers distributed red caps bearing the slogan "Build Israel Great Again" and spoke of how thankful they were for the president's support. Leaders of the Yesha Council, which represents the settlement movement,... Full story
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Hillel International announced that former Israeli Justice Minister and Member of Knesset Dr. Yossi Beilin has been elected to serve as chair of the board of Hillel Israel, a volunteer position. His appointment was unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of Hillel Israel. In addition to his extensive public service career, Beilin is the visionary of the Birthright Israel program, which has brought more than 650,000 young Diaspora Jews to Israel for 10-day educational... Full story
(JTA)-It's been a dizzying few weeks for South African model and actress Shashi Naidoo, who transformed herself from a harsh critic of the Palestinians to what some are calling a "cover girl" for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. It all began in an Instagram post last month, when Naidoo called Gaza a "s***hole" and accused Palestinian leaders of diverting aid in order to feed its "ambition to annihilate Israel." She explained that she was defending a South African record producer w... Full story
(JNS)-The Israeli Defense Forces said it launched an airstrike on Wednesday night, killing seven terrorists from the Islamic State who had infiltrated Israeli territory in the Golan Heights along the Syrian border. According to the IDF, Israel had been tracking the seven armed suspects from the Islamic State terror group in the southern Golan Heights near the area of the triangle of Israel, Jordan and the demilitarized zone of Syria when the Israeli Air Force aircraft struck them. IDF Spokesman... Full story
