Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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JERUSALEM (JTA)—North Korea threatened Israel with “merciless, thousand-fold punishment” and labeled it the only “illegal possessor” of nuclear weapons in the Middle East. The Foreign Ministry in Pyongyang issued a statement Saturday blasting Israel after its defense minister, Avigdor Liberman, in an interview with the Hebrew-language news website Walla! called North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a “madman” who is in charge of a “crazy and radical group” that is “undermining global stability.” Liberman said that Pyongyang “seems to have crosse...
(JTA)—We Americans use the phrase “the greatest generation” to describe those who grew up during the Depression, prevailed in World War II and contributed to America’s postwar prosperity and influence. But on a visit last week to Jewish communities in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and Belarus’ Minsk and Bobruisk, I came to realize that elderly Jews in the former Soviet Union deserve this recognition as well. In many ways they are the other “greatest generation,” whose quiet heroism is inspiring and humbling. While their American Jewish counte...
NEW YORK-United States Ambassador Nikki Haley spoke before the World Jewish Congress' Plenary Assembly in New York on Tuesday, telling the 600 delegates from more than 90 countries, "I can safely say that it's a new day for Israel at the United Nations. I know it's a new day for Israel at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The United States will no longer be silent as Israel is unfairly attacked at the United Nations. Silence is not my thing anyway, but that's especially true when it comes...
NEW YORK—Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder was reelected for a third term as World Jewish Congress president on Monday, at the WJC’s 15th Plenary Assembly in New York. In his address to the more than 600 delegates from 90 countries, Lauder said: “I have done many things in my life, but there is no accomplishment, no title, no honor that I am more proud of than being president of the World Jewish Congress... we are one people, and we take care of each other.” Lauder spoke to the delegates about the challenges facing the Jewish world, including the ant...
Sebastian Gorka reportedly leaving White House (JTA)—Sebastian Gorka, the presidential aide accused of ties to a far-right Hungarian nationalist group, reportedly will be leaving the White House for another government position. According to a report Sunday in the political website The Hill, citing an unnamed senior White House official, Gorka will be taking a position in another federal agency. He currently serves as a deputy assistant to Donald Trump, advising the president on counterterrorism. The Washington Examiner first reported that Gorka...
A day after convicted Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti wrote a New York Times op-ed that omitted his crimes and terrorist organization membership and sparked scathing rebuke from the international community, the newspaper added a brief editor's note acknowledging the murder and terror-related convictions that led to his imprisonment. The April 16 piece-where the Times referred to Barghouti as a "Palestinian leader and parliamentarian"-was slammed by Israeli officials and Jewish leaders in...
Palestinian terrorist leader Marwan Barghouti was head of the Fatah supreme committee in the West Bank and leader of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, which between September 2000 and April 2002 carried out thousands of terror attacks against Israel. The following are some of the more heinous terror attacks for which he is responsible: • Jun 12, 2001—The murder of a Greek Orthodox monk on the road to Ma’ale Adumim. • Jan 17, 2002—The shooting attack during a bat mitzvah celebration at a banquet hall in Hadera. Six Israelis were killed in this attack, 26 we...
(JNS.org) A record number of Jews—approximately 1,600—visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during the seven-day Passover holiday this year, breaking last year’s record of 1,015 during the same time, according to non-profit organization Yirah. Additionally, a record number of Jewish visits to the Temple Mount in a single day—495—also occurred during the Passover holiday. That exceeds the previous record of 448 visits set during last year’s Sukkot festivities. The highest number of Jewish visits to the Temple Mount was also set during Sukk...
(JNS.org) Newly released United Nations documents reveal that the Allied powers knew about the Jewish Holocaust carried out by Hitler's Nazi regime at least two-and-a-half years earlier than previously thought. As early as December 1942, the United States, the United Kingdom and the former Soviet Union were aware that at least two millions Jews were massacred by the Nazi regime, according to the British media outlet The Independent. And an additional five million Jews were at risk of being murde...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Iran is not living up to the “spirit” of the nuclear deal, President Donald Trump said, the latest in a flurry of mixed messages on the deal his administration has relayed in recent days. “As far as Iran is concerned, I think they are doing a tremendous disservice to an agreement that was signed,” Trump said Thursday in a joint appearance at the White House with Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni of Italy. “They are not living up to the spirit of the agreement, I can tell you that, and we’re analyzing it very, very carefully, an...
Americans for Peace Now cancels annual Israel trip over anti-boycott law JERUSALEM (JTA)—Americans for Peace Now has canceled its annual trip to Israel over the country’s new anti-boycott law. The law passed last month by the Israeli Knesset bars entry to foreigners who publicly call for boycotting the Jewish state or its settlements. Americans for Peace Now is concerned that trip participants could be stopped at Ben Gurion International Airport and denied entry into Israel, Haaretz first reported this week, noting that the dovish group has...
While U.S.-Israel military ties have long been known for foreign aid packages, intelligence-sharing and jointly developed missile defense technology, veterans affairs could be a major new frontier in that relationship. The seeds of this added dimension to already storied Israeli-American bonds were planted during last year's U.S. presidential election, particularly in the eyes of Israeli government officials tasked with the care of injured and released IDF soldiers. Israeli Defense Ministry offi...
While the international community hangs on to visions of a two-state solution, Israeli public opinion is unified in asserting that the establishment of a Palestinian state is unrealistic and undesirable. Only 12 percent of Jewish Israelis believe a West Bank withdrawal would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a survey published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairsat the end of March. Jewish support for withdrawal from the West Bank has decreased from 60 percent in 2005 to 36 percent in 2017. The survey also found that 79...
(JNS.org) The Palestinian Authority announced Thursday that it will suspend ties with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East over changes that make the agency’s school curriculum more sympathetic to Israel. The PA’s Education Ministry called the changes an “affront to the Palestinian people, its history and struggles,” and vowed the suspension will not change until UNRWA reverses the changes. UNRWA schools serve more than 312,000 Palestinian refugee children, including 262,000 students in Gaza as well...
(JNS.org) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he will take "unprecedented steps" to end the split between the PA-run territories in the West Bank and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. In a speech to Arab ambassadors in Bahrain, Abbas said he was shocked at Hamas's decision in March to form an administrative committee to run affairs in Gaza. "After 10 years in which we sent financial support to our people in Gaza, we were surprised by this unprecedented step," Abbas said. "Thus, we will...
Anti-Israel activists gathered Sunday inside the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago to hear a discussion featuring convicted Palestinian terrorist Rasmeah Odeh. Unbeknownst to Odeh and the attendees of the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) conference, while she was receiving a standing ovation, a memorial service for her victims was in progress just a few floors above. Being remembered were Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner, two friends who had been studying at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, until...
Palestinian firebombing suspect shot by Israeli soldiers dies of his wounds (JTA)—A Palestinian teenager who was shot last month by Israeli troops while riding in a vehicle where passengers allegedly threw firebombs at Israelis has died of his injuries. Jassem Muhammad Nakhla, 17, died Monday in a Tel Aviv hospital after being shot in the head and foot on March 23 near the al-Jalazun refugee camp in the central West Bank, the Maan news agency reported Tuesday based on information it received from the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Nakhla w...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-High-tech workers know there's no problem that can't be solved with a spreadsheet. So a group of Israeli women seeking to combat the gender wage gap in the industry created one last month with data about their qualifications and salaries. They hope to empower one another in salary negotiations. As of Friday, nearly 200 women had contributed to the survey, and the data showed a wide range of earnings -- even for women with similar qualifications working in similar positions. "We...
Israeli leaders welcomed President Donald Trump’s surprise military action late Thursday to strike the airbase where Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was believed to have launched a chemical attack resulting in the deaths of at least 86 Syrians, including 27 children. “In both word and action, President Trump sent a strong and clear message today that the use and spread of chemical weapons will not be tolerated,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated. “Israel fully supports President Trump’s decision and hopes that this message o...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-In response to the alleged chemical attack in Syria on Tuesday, Israelis have donated hundreds of thousands of shekels to help children and others caught in the conflict raging on their northern border. With Israel maintaining a policy of noninterference, giving money has been a way for people here to respond to the brutal six-year civil war. Donations have spiked since the release of a video seemingly capturing the gruesome aftermath of the attack, which killed at least 82...
WASHINGTON, DC—Approximately 13,000 Jewish teens in more than 90 communities across 20 countries are participating in a day of community service and improvement projects this spring as part of J-Serve, the International Day of Jewish Youth Service, anchored on the official date—Sunday, April 2, 2017. With events kicking off as early as March and running through May, thousands of Jewish teens in grades six through twelve worldwide have organized a variety of J-Serve projects focused on meaningful social issues such as literacy, homelessness and...
(JNS.org) The Palestinian Authority’s official television network gave viewers instructions on what a female reporter described as the Islamic “religious rules” that husbands should use when they physically abuse their wives, Palestinian Media Watch reported Thursday. “To those who use beatings and violence to solve their marital problems: carefully read the Quranic verse again (Sura 4:34),” the PA TV reporter said April 1 on the “Talk of the Land” program. “There are solutions before giving beatings. If you have to, there are religious rules...
(World Israel News)—Russia’s Foreign Ministry shocks the world by declaring West Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel. In a statement released today by its Foreign Ministry on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Russia took the unusual step of removing ambiguity about its stance on West Jerusalem. After explaining that it is “deeply concerned” about the absence of active negotiations between Israel and the Arabs on the creation of an Arab state in Judea and Samaria, Russia spelled out its stance on Jerusalem. “We reaffirm our commitment to the U...
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org)—Israel’s Rishon Lezion Magistrates’ Court Thursday remanded a 19-year-old Israeli-American hacker from Ashkelon to police custody for an additional 12 days. It marked the suspect’s third remand since his March 23 arrest as part of an FBI investigation into allegations that he phoned in bomb threats to Jewish institutions—primarily JCCs—in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand earlier this year. The case has seen significant developments in recent days, as investigators analyzing the suspect’s computer for evide...
WASHINGTON—Amid growing congressional concern about the Palestinian Authority’s misuse of U.S. aid, a major mainstream American Jewish organization has been quietly lobbying Congress to cover the PA’s unpaid bills at a Jerusalem hospital. JNS.org has learned that for the past several years, senior officials of the American Jewish Committee have undertaken the task of pressing U.S. officials, including members of Congress, to pay millions in unpaid bills the PA has racked up at the Lutheran-sponsored Augusta Victoria hospital in eastern Jerus...
