Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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TEL AVIV-As a group of well-wishers waved tiny Israeli flags and shouted "Welcome home," Diane Hewitt of Hoboken, New Jersey, stepped off the El Al jet that had just flown her to Tel Aviv from New York, cradling her 8-year-old blind beagle, Annie, in her arms. A retired jewelry industry executive, Hewitt, 65, had always dreamed of moving to Israel, but she didn't want to leave behind her daughter, Sarah. But after Sarah herself immigrated to Israel a year ago and married an Israeli, there was...
The Palestinians rejected President DonaldTrump's threat to cut US aid to the Palestinian Authority over its refusal to return to the negotiations table, saying their "rights are not for sale." Trump tweeted Tuesday that "we pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They don't even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with Israel." "We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that,...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Efforts by the Trump transition team to kill a 2016 UN Security Council resolution slamming Israel’s settlement policies were more widespread than was previously known, according to a Wall Street Journal report The report Friday said the effort encompassed a number of transition officials beyond Michael Flynn, the national security adviser-designate who was previously known to have made the effort. Also involved in the effort were Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who directed Flynn to make the calls, and Nikki Haley, the d...
At a press conference at the United Nations on Tuesday, US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley fielded questions about the fate of US funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency, the primary UN agency responsible for funneling aid to the Palestinians. In a video posted by Reuters, Haley responded to a question regarding whether the US would continue to fund the agency in light of the Palestinians’ threat to “unleash all the weapons we have in the UN,” by saying, “[President Trump] doesn’t want to give any additional funding, or stop funding,...
(JTA)-If a Palestinian appears to be committing a terror attack, do they deserve to die on the spot? The answer is yes, says Michael Oren. The former Israeli ambassador to the United States, now a deputy minister in Israel's Cabinet, tweeted last week that the Israel Defense Forces should change its rules of engagement, such that soldiers should "shoot to kill" suspected terrorists, instead of just incapacitating them. "Soldiers who catch terrorists while carrying out attacks must be ordered to...
PARIS (JTA)—When Delphine Horvilleur, France’s best-known female rabbi, began appearing regularly in the media, her friends and relatives feared it would expose her to threats or attacks by anti-Semites. Several years later it appears they were only partially wrong. Horvilleur’s media profile does invite hate speech and abuse online—but mostly from other Jews. Following a reference to Jerusalem during a television interview last month, Horvilleur, 43, has again become the punching bag of the local branch of the Jewish Defense League and a vocal...
Barbra Streisand slams Golden Globes for not giving award to women directors JTA—Barbra Streisand criticized the sexism of Hollywood while presenting an award at the Golden Globes, pointing out that she is the only woman to have received its best director award. “Backstage I heard they said I was the only woman... to get the best director award, and you know, that was 1984: That was 34 years ago. Folks, time’s up!” Streisand said before presenting the final award of the night for best motion picture. Streisand’s best director award at the Go...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Iranians are taking to the streets in spontaneous demonstrations across the country to protest government corruption and a failing economy. The depth and breadth of popular Iranian anger have taken the West by surprise, nowhere more so than in Washington, where the focus on Iran since Donald Trump assumed the presidency has been on whether he would preserve the 2015 nuclear deal. Until Dec. 28, this was the calculus: Would Trump kill the agreement or be content with dismissing...
Love him or hate him, 2017 was a year dominated by President Donald Trump. The US-Israel relationship was no stranger to that, ranging from Trump's visit to the Jewish state in May to his historic decision on Jerusalem in December. At the same time, some of this year's other major stories in the Israeli-American arena had little or nothing to do with Trump. JNS takes a look back at the following five key moments in US-Israel relations during the past year: Trump's policy changes on Jerusalem On...
The Reform movement has started to retreat from its opposition to the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Following President Donald Trump’s recognition announcement, Union for Reform Judaism President Rabbi Rick Jacobs issued a statement on Dec. 6 expressing “serious concern” that the president’s action “may well undercut the Administration’s peace process efforts and risk destabilizing the region.” The URJ’s opposition broke with the broad American Jewish communal support of the Jerusalem recogni...
Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt are incensed at Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas over his reaction to US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, according to Israeli media reports. Israel Hayom quoted a Jordanian official as saying, "The Palestinians' efforts to sway public opinion have been a complete failure, and as a result, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has created a rift between us [the Arab world] and Trump. We are once again left...
BUENOS AIRES (JTA)-A federal judge in Argentina said that AMIA Jewish center bombing prosecutor Alberto Nisman was murdered. It is the first time since Nisman's death in January 2015 that the case has officially been classified as murder. Others have said that Nisman committed suicide in the bathroom of his Buenos Aires apartment. Judge Julian Ercolini on Tuesday in a 656-page ruling said the gunshot that killed Jewish prosecutor Alberto Nisman "was not a suicide, and was brought about by a...
The Samaria area has recently seen a massive increase in tourism from around the globe, Israel’s NRG news reported Thursday. The biblical heartland has seen an increase of some 200 percent in incoming tourism, mostly from Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. Increased tourism from Sweden, Australia and the US is also noteworthy. The local municipality explained that the sharp increase in tourism is the outcome of intensive efforts on its part to publicize the region’s unique attractions and sites. The Samaria Reg...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—With the arrival of a flight carrying 93 new immigrants, a total of 3,633 people from North America made aliyah in 2017, Nefesh B’Nefesh reported. The group flight that landed at Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday included 15 future lone soldiers and a soon-to-be bride, according to the organization. Nefesh B’Nefesh, in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael and JNF-USA, helps facilitate aliyah—the Hebrew term for Jewish immigrati...
United with Israel does not use the term 'occupied' when referring to areas controlled by Israel since June 1967. US Ambassador David Friedman apparently agrees. Although many call the territories to the west of the Jordan River captured by Israel in the Six Day War the "West Bank," United with Israel prefers to use the historically and geographically correct term 'Judea and Samaria.' 'Occupied' is a loaded political phrase that indicates, just by its usage, that Israel is the occupier and not...
The National Basketball Association set up a new website for the 2018 All-Star Game in Los Angeles, allowing fans to vote for their favorite players. After voting, the fans are asked to identify which country they are from, picking from among a variety of choices that included both Israel and “Palestine—occupied territory.” Several fans discovered the listing when voting this week for Israeli NBA player Omri Casspi. Regev: ‘A gross and blatant interference’ “I view the inclusion of ‘Occupied Palestine’ in the list of countries appearing on yo...
Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system blocked two missiles fired into Israel shortly before noon on Friday. A third landed in a community bordering Gaza. No injuries were reported, but a building was damaged. The Code Red alarms were sounded during a ceremony marking the would-be 24th birthday of IDF soldier Oron Shaul, whose body has been held by Hamas in Gaza since Operation Protective Edge. Before the incident, Oron’s mother told the crowd, “We’re here to mark his birthday. We’ve decided to come here so we can be as close to Oron as p...
Israeli government OKs $72 Million anti-BDS project (JTA)—Israel’s government has approved a plan setting aside $72 million to fighting the campaign to boycott Israel. The plan would entail the largest monetary investment yet by Israel specifically toward combating the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. It was announced last week to the cabinet ministers and approved as an executive order after none of them objected, the Ynet news site reported Friday. It calls for setting up a not-for-profit organization whose board will be made up...
Thousands of protesters took to the streets this weekend in cities throughout Iran to demonstrate against the Islamic Republic’s strained economy, corrupt regime and costly military expansion throughout the region, in what has been characterized as the country’s largest wave of anti-government protests since the “Green Revolution” erupted in 2009 following a controversial presidential election. Although experts believe it is too soon to tell how the renewed anti-regime protests will affect Israel, Meir Litvak, director of the Alliance Center...
A new elite IDF infantry unit is about to take up its position along Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip. The Haruv (Carob) unit, named after a renowned force that operated in Israel’s southern desert borders in the 1960s and 1970s, was once a regular infantry battalion in the Kfir brigade, focusing on security operations in Judea and Samaria (the territories). Several months ago, the IDF decided to convert this battalion into an elite unit, and to give it the training, weapons, vehicles and high-tech equipment it would need to fight in Gaz...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Jason Greenblatt, President Donald Trump's chief Israeli-Palestinian negotiator, has an office just around the corner from the White House. On his computer monitor is a Post-it note, inscribed with a quote from former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo: "At the end of the day, a peace agreement derives its strength from an understanding between peoples, not an accord between governments." It's an appropriate message for Greenblatt, an affable Orthodox Jew who's been tasked by Trump with...
NEW YORK—On Friday, Dec. 22, Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Honorable Irwin Cotler, addressed a special session of the United Nations Security Council on International Humanitarian Law and the repatriation of the remains of Hadar Goldin, abducted and murdered by Hamas in violation of a UN-mandated humanitarian ceasefire. Security Council Member nations—including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Russia, France, Italy, Sweden, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Senegal and Uruguay—expressed their...
(JTA)-Political turmoil, terror attacks and natural disasters around the world: 2017 had plenty of people feeling down, for good reason. But there were also notable moments of light. As this year draws to a close, here is a chronology of some of the more heartwarming stories JTA published this year. An Orthodox Jew builds bridges with his Yemeni Muslim neighbors After President Donald Trump issued his first executive order banning immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, Alexander R...
(JNS) The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a resolution denouncing President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The 193-member General Assembly voted 128-9, with 35 abstentions, to express “deep regret” over Trump’s Jerusalem policy changes, which also include plans to move the U.S. embassy to that city. The nine countries voting against the resolution were the U.S., Israel, Togo, Micronesia, Guatemala, Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands and Honduras. The 35 abstentions included...
(JNS) The Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation (MFF) on Monday announced the winners of its second competition for the creation of pro-Israel social media memes. The competition brought together hundreds of participants from around the world, including the U.S., Israel, Egypt, South Africa, Germany, Romania, Kenya and Denmark. Second prize winner Eric Fihman created a meme featuring Israeli actress Gal Gadot's "Wonder Woman" movie character along with the "wonder women" of the IDF and text...
