Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Speaking exclusively with JNS.org, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman on Sunday night confirmed a report that a team from the Trump administration is drafting an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. "We're working very hard on it," Friedman said of the Mideast peace proposal, in an interview at the Zionist Organization of America's (ZOA) annual awards dinner in New York City. "It's hard to comment on it while we're in the middle, because it's delicate." He added that more information about the... Full story
‘Transparent’ star Jeffrey Tambor denies second sexual harassment accusation (JTA)—Jeffrey Tambor, the star of the Emmy-winning television comedy “Transparent,” denied sexual harassment allegations made by a female member of the show’s cast a week after denying similar charges by his former assistant. Tambor issued the denial in a statement Friday in response to claims made earlier in the week by Trace Lysette, who has played the recurring character Shea on the Amazon series since its first season, MNE reported. Lysette wrote on Twitter that Ta... Full story
(JTA)-The sight of far-right activists waving racist banners and shouting anti-Semitic slogans during a nationalist march in the capital of Poland over the weekend shocked many around the world. It was an understandable reaction to witnessing tens of thousands in Warsaw marching near what used to be the largest Jewish ghetto during the Holocaust amid shouts of "Jews out" and "Remove Jewry from power." The march, an annual event that began in 2009 with 500 participants on Poland's national day,... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Israel's national judo team put on a tutorial in sportsmanship last week in Abu Dhabi. Despite being snubbed by opponents and officials alike, the athletes won five medals and treated the tournament and their opponents with respect. Moshe Ponte, the president of the Israel Judo Association, said the team was guided by the Japanese meaning of the word "judo" itself: the "gentle way," or using the strength of one's opponents against them. But if you don't think that sounds like the... Full story
Brazilian students simulate Nazi human experiments for science fair RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA)—Brazilian high school students simulated medical experiments that the Nazis conducted on concentration camp prisoners during the Holocaust. The students at Milecimo da Silva high school in Rio De Janeiro were recently assigned to re-create a Nazi laboratory for a science fair. According to the Brazilian Israelite Confederations, the country’s umbrella Jewish group, the purpose of the exhibition was to highlight the supposed scientific progress made by Naz... Full story
The United Nations has earmarked some $1.3 billion to fund Palestinian legal campaigns against Israel and to support the creation of an independent Palestinian state, in what experts are calling an unprecedented act singling out the Jewish state at the world body. A document that was recently signed between the UN and the Palestinians outlines a “strategic programming framework” in the disputed territories from 2018-2022, and states that the UN will work to advise the Palestinian Authority on how to exploit “international accountability mecha... Full story
Iran is unlikely to halt its drive toward nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in the aftermath of President Donald Trump's recent refusal to recertify the Islamic Republic's compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement, experts say. Trump's move empowers Congress to decide whether to reimpose sanctions that were lifted as part of the deal between Iran and world powers. The Iranian leadership has made aggressive statements in response to the announcement of America's new and tougher approach,... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Fifty years since the Six-Day War, 100 years since the Balfour Declaration, 150 years since Mark Twain first visited Palestine. This has been a year of big Israel-related anniversaries. To the Jewish state's most diehard Christian supporters, the barrage of milestones is not mere coincidence but rather a harbinger of prophecies being fulfilled. Every half century, many Christian Zionists believe, history makes a concerted push toward its endpoint: the return of the Messiah to... Full story
Recognizing it is easier to influence those who are more prone to be natural supporters of the Jewish state than it is to sway journalists who cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a perceived anti-Israel bias, the Israeli government this week offered Christian media professionals a crash course in Israel advocacy and diplomacy. More than 130 journalists from 30 countries converged in Jerusalem for Israel’s inaugural Christian Media Summit, which was sponsored by the Government Press Office and spearheaded by Minister of Jerusalem A... Full story
Why a pro-Israel group moved its benefit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort (JTA)—An Israel advocacy group has relocated a charity event to President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to thank him for his support of Israel. The Truth About Israel moved its Feb. 25 benefit from a nearby resort after several charities canceled planned galas at Mar-a-Lago, The Associated Press reported. American Friends of Magen David Adom was among the nine groups that canceled in August. Steven Alembik, who is organizing the Truth About Israel event, told AP... Full story
For the past 26 years, India and Israel have been developing a strong relationship. While once India was an adherent to the Arab League boycott of Israel, in 1992, India announced it would establish full diplomatic relations with Israel. A few months later, the two nations signed an agreement to increase cooperation between Indian and Israeli industries. Today, trade is booming. India is Israel's ninth leading trade partner. Exports have risen from $200 million in 1992 to $4.2 billion in 2016.... Full story
The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York on Wednesday announced the discovery of a trove of lost Jewish materials in the Lithuanian city of Vilna, thought to have been destroyed during the Holocaust. Considered by some as the most important body of material in Jewish history and culture to be unearthed in more than half a century, possibly since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the documents include never-before-published literary manuscripts from some of the most famous Yiddish... Full story
The IDF struck three Syrian rocket launchers Saturday after five rockets from Syria entered the Israeli Golan Heights earlier that day, and as Iran’s military chief inked an agreement with Damascus pledging to combat “Zio-American schemes.” Meanwhile, Russia has reportedly agreed to slightly expand a buffer zone in southern Syria to prevent Iranian forces and the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah from operating near the Jewish state. The IDF located four of the five projectiles fired from Syria into Israeli territory. While all of the rocke... Full story
IDF blows up Gaza terror tunnel, killing at least 7 JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Israel Defense Forces blew up a terrorist tunnel that stretched from Khan Younis in Gaza to Israel. The tunnel, which ended in Israel near the border with Gaza, is believed to have been dug after the 2014 Gaza war. At least seven Gazan Palestinians were killed and another 11 injured in the controlled explosion, according to reports citing the Gaza Health Ministry. Most of the dead are members of the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad, which has threatened retaliation. The... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken a wait-and-see approach to last week's Palestinian reconciliation deal. Netanyahu spoke out publicly and loudly against the move toward unity between the feuding Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, calling it a threat to Israel and a setback to peace. But he quietly indicated Israel could accept reconciliation if Hamas reformed. "Israel insists that the PA not allow any base whatsoever for Hamas terrorist actions from PA areas... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-International fashion model Maayan Keret said she was raped at the age of 12. Since then, Keret said, she has been harassed or assaulted so many times she "stopped counting." Yael Arad, a silver medalist in judo at the 1992 Summer Olympics, said that despite her "image and physical abilities," men have tried to "take advantage of or harass" her three times. Knesset member Merav Ben-Ari said male soldiers on her army base verbally harassed her and touched her inappropriately.... Full story
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, in a roundtable discussion with youth in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, slammed the Trump administration's demand that it renounce terror and recognize the Jewish state. Rather than considering peace negotiations, "the discussion now is about when we will wipe out Israel," he declared, according to the Hamas-linked news agency Shehab, Times of Israel reported. "No one in the universe can disarm us. On the contrary, we will continue to have the power to protect our... Full story
(JTA)-A plan to open a mosque in a heavily Jewish area of London is dividing British Jews, with some calling the development worrisome and others accusing its opponents of racism. The Islamic center is slated to open next month at the Hippodrome, a former concert hall in the heart of the north London neighborhood of Golders Green. The area is home to thousands of Jewish families of all major denominations and many synagogues, Jewish schools, kosher shops and restaurants, even hotels for devout... Full story
Fliers found at Cornell read ‘Just say no to Jewish lies’ (JTA)—Anti-Semitic fliers with swastika-like symbols were discovered on the campus of Cornell University in upstate New York. The posters, which read “Just say no to Jewish lies!” and urged students to “join the white gang,” were discovered Monday morning and taken down the same day. They promoted the “Solar Cross Society,” but there is no such group at Cornell and it does not have an internet presence. The Ivy League school’s president, Martha Pollack, denounced the fliers. “Whoever is... Full story
(JNS.org)—A global observance of Shabbat with hundreds of special events being held in local Jewish communities around the world—including new events in Togo, Mozambique and Venezuela—is slated for Oct. 27-28. Locally, Sarah Gittleson of SPARK/JOIN Orlando will be hosting a Challah Bake on Thursday, Oct. 26, at the JOIN House, 109 Water Oak Lane, Altamonte Springs. (Seats are limited to 30 participants, so pre-registration is required. If the event is sold out, please put yourself on the waitlist. Register at thechallahclub.eventbrite.com) Rabb... Full story
Woody Allen clarifies remarks on Harvey Weinstein: ‘He is a sad, sick man’ (JTA)—Filmmaker Woody Allen clarified his remarks about Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein made in an interview with the BBC. “When I said I felt sad for Harvey Weinstein, I thought it was clear the meaning was because he is a sad, sick man,” Allen said in a statement to Variety on Sunday night. “I was surprised it was treated differently. Lest there be any ambiguity, this statement clarifies my intention and feelings.” In the BBC interview published Sunday morning, Allen... Full story
Egypt's president Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on Tuesday made an impassioned pitch for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, calling for both sides to take advantage of a "rare" opportunity to achieve the elusive goal. El-Sissi broke from his prepared remarks to the United Nations General Assembly in classical Arabic to address Israelis and Palestinians informally in colloquial Egyptian Arabic, saying they should take advantage of an opportunity that "may not be repeated." The Egyptian leader... Full story
(JNS.org)—The international police organization Interpol voted Wednesday in favor of granting the “State of Palestine” full membership, in a diplomatic defeat for Israel. At the organization’s annual General Assembly that convened this year in Beijing, the Palestinian membership bid was approved with 75 countries voting in favor, 24 voting against and 34 abstaining. Israel had campaigned against the move, arguing the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) support for terrorism would undermine Interpol’s efforts. The U.S. also opposed Palestinian... Full story
(JNS.org) Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah arrived in the Gaza Strip Monday for the first time since 2014, as the PA and its rival, the Gaza-ruling terror group Hamas, initiated the first steps in forming a unity government. Hamdallah’s visit is intended as the first symbolic move towards transferring custodianship of the coastal territory from Hamas to the PA. Upon arrival, Hamdallah and his 30-vehicle motorcade were greeted by Hamas members as well as members of the PA’s ruling party, Fatah. A crowd of 2,000 peo... Full story
(JNS.org)—Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated Tuesday he would mull severing ties with Israel if the Jewish state does not withdraw its support for an independent Kurdish state. “If Israel does not reconsider its support for Kurdish independence, Turkey could not take any steps [with Israel],” Erdogan said, the Turkish news outlet Daily Sabah reported. “Those trying to establish new states in Iraq and Syria should not be surprised when they are tossed aside by those who use them,” he said. The Turkish leader’s warning came a day... Full story
