Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS)-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that the Trump administration is considering allowing U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem to list "Jerusalem, Israel" on their U.S. passports. "We're constantly evaluating the way we handle what can be listed on passports," he told JNS in a wide-ranging interview. "It's something that's actively being looked at." Despite the United States recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017 and relocating its embassy from Tel Aviv...
(JNS)-Israel and South Korea have concluded three years of negotiations on a free trade agreement, officials announced on Wednesday, paving the way for a major boost in bilateral trade. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the agreement-the first with an Asian country-calling South Korea a "global leader." "Israel is a vibrant, advanced economy, and I think our partnership will do tremendous good for both our economies. I'm sure it will multiply our trade, which already stands at...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-In its 10 years of placing young Palestinian and Israeli leaders with Congress members, no lawmaker asked New Story Leadership for one of each-until Jamie Raskin did. This summer, Eran Nissan and Mohammed Ahmad have been interning in the office of the Maryland Democrat, bonding over constituent work. No one knew until well into the summer, however, that the two young men had a deeper connection than they realized: When Ahmad described the unsettling nightly intrusions by...
(JNS)-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attended a memorial ceremony on Monday for the Ukrainian Jews murdered at Babi Yar during World War II. The two leaders laid wreaths at the menorah monument of the site, where an estimated 33,771 Jews were massacred in September 1941. "Babi Yar is endless pain. In this grave, the mass grave here behind me, tens of thousands of Ukrainian Jews and many non-Jews were murdered," said Netanyahu. "As prime...
Jerusalem, ISRAEL—Masa Israel Teaching Fellows, a Masa initiative in partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Education, is set to launch its ninth year of programming. Two hundred English-speaking young Jewish professionals will arrive in Israel from around the world at the start of the academic year. Three of the fellows are from Oviedo, Maitland and Sanford. This program testifies to the growing commitment of world Jewry to Israel with the number of participants increasing five-fold over the last eight years. Fellows will teach English in ele...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Twenty-one right-wing Israeli lawmakers rebuffed a House bill that endorsed a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while rejecting efforts to boycott the Jewish state. In a letter addressed to U.S. Reps. Brad Schneider, Lee Zeldin, Jerry Nadler and Ann Wagner, the co-sponsors of the bill and staunch supporters of Israel, the Israeli lawmakers asserted that a Palestinian state is “far more dangerous to Israel” than BDS. House Resolution 246, which passed 398-17 last month, condemned the Boycott, Dives...
(JNS)-Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas avoided answering whether or not he believes that Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state and seemed "aggressive" in talks with U.S. lawmakers regarding the Trump administration's policies, according to members of Congress who just returned from a visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of the West Bank. Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), told JNS that she "didn't walk away from the meeting with Abbas feeling particularly...
(JTA)—When Israel announced that it would deny entry to Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, the decision struck many as an unprecedented step. But Israel has blocked multiple lawmakers from coming in recent years. The difference this time is that it’s lawmakers from the United States who are being declared persona non grata. That’s a significant difference, given the closeness of the U.S.-Israel relationship—a link so crucial to Israel that the country’s diplomacy vis-à-vis the United States is often conducted according to its own set of rul...
IDF thwarts third infiltration attempt from Gaza in a week (JNS)—Israeli troops on Monday arrested an armed Palestinian man attempting to infiltrate into Israel from the Gaza Strip, according to the Israel Defense Forces. “A short time ago, IDF soldiers arrested a suspect crossing the security fence into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip in the south,” the IDF said in a statement on social media. “The suspect was captured and found carrying a knife along with two bullets.” The attempted breach marked the third time in a single week that...
(JNS)-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conveyed his condolences to the American people on Sunday night after back-to-back mass shootings rocked the cities of El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, over the weekend. "In the past 24 hours, we have witnessed two murderous attacks in Texas and Ohio," he wrote on Twitter. "On behalf of all government ministers and all citizens of Israel, I send condolences to the bereaved families, best wishes for recovery to the injured, and solidarity with the...
(JTA)-Those close to Dvir Sorek, the 19-year-old student who was murdered Thursday in a West Bank terrorist attack, described him as a unique young man. One of his friends from the West Bank settlement of Ofra, where Sorek's family lives, described him to Ynet as "an upstanding person, a poet, a musician with a special connection to nature." This is perhaps the reason that he chose to give an unusual goodbye gift to his teachers at the West Bank religious seminary, or yeshiva, he attended:...
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Israel's upcoming elections in September-just five months after the last ones in April-are essentially a do-over. In the April election, the right wing won a majority. But because Israel has a parliamentary system, a bunch of small right-wing parties had to agree to join a governing coalition. They were too divided to do that, so now Israel is trying again. Unsurprisingly, people have basically the same opinions they had earlier this year. In other words, polls haven't shifted...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—A blogger and law student from Saudi Arabia who had made his name public was attacked verbally and spit on by Muslims while visiting Israel as a guest of the Foreign Ministry. Mahmoud Saud also was hit by thrown objects during his visit to the Temple Mount and Old City of Jerusalem. Saud is the only member of the six-person delegation of journalists and bloggers from Arab countries with which Israel does not have diplomatic relations, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq, who has been willing to make his name public, according to r...
New CEO of Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations By Marcy Oster (JTA)—William Daroff was named as CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The news was first reported by the JNS news website. He will replace Malcolm Hoenlein, who has held the position of executive vice chairman for the last 33 years. Daroff currently serves as senior vice president for public policy and director of the Washington office of the Jewish Federations of North America. Hoenlein, 74, announced in February 2...
(JNS)—Among news consumers, the first association one has with the State of Israel is often war and religious violence. However, for many Jews who choose to immigrate to Israel—or “make aliyah”—the Jewish state is considered to be the safest place to live freely and without concerns about anti-Semitism. Such is the case for Rachel, 34, and Teddy Gnassia, 35, who are certain that their children will be safer living and going to Jewish school in Israel as opposed to their home country of France. With their three children—Meir, 10; Liam, 7; an...
(JNS)-A young Arab girl and her older teenage sister spray-painted the words "slaughter the Jews" in Arabic on Friday on the Kotel HaKatan ("little wall" in Hebrew), a portion of the Western Wall on the Temple Mount about 650 feet north of the Western Wall Plaza and next to the Iron Gate entrance to the Old City. "Last Friday, I was going to pray, walking by the Kotel HaKatan right before Shabbat, around 7:30 or 8 p.m. At the entrance, I saw a small girl writing in Arabic right on the walls,"...
\BUDAPEST (JTA)-More than 2,000 Jewish athletes from 42 countries and thousands of spectators gathered at a stadium in the Hungarian capital for the opening of the 15th European Maccabi Games. With 180 athletes, Israel sent its largest ever delegation to Tuesday's opening ceremony of the event, which is the 15th edition of a tournament that take place every four years at a different European city. This year's games, which takes place at several venues, includes 20 categories, including...
(JNS)-Israel's politics got another major shakeup in recent days-this time on the right, with the announcement of the merger between Ayelet Shaked's New Right Party and Jewish Home. Like similar moves on the left last week, the latest union seeks to boost the election fortunes of the smaller parties on the right in order to cross the electoral threshold and have a stronger hand in coalition negotiations as the September elections approach. "From the beginning, I have said that the person who...
(JNS)—The United States on Wednesday blocked an attempt by several countries to get the U.N. Security Council to condemn Israel’s demolition earlier this week of illegally constructed buildings on the outskirts of eastern Jerusalem, Reuters reported on Thursday. Kuwait, Indonesia and South Africa circulated a draft statement among the 15-member Security Council on Tuesday warning that the demolition “undermines the viability of the two-state solution and the prospect for just and lasting peace...
(JNS)—U.S. President Donald Trump vetoed three congressional resolutions on Wednesday that would have blocked billions of dollars in arms sales to countries including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In messages to the Senate justifying the move, Trump wrote that the resolutions “would weaken America’s global competitiveness and damage the important relationships we share with our allies and partners.” Congress is not expected to have the two-thirds majority required to override the decision. In May, the Trump administration said th...
(Israel Hayom via JNS)-Hezbollah is reportedly deploying its forces on the Lebanon-Israel border, The Daily Beast reported over the weekend, linking the move by the Iranian-backed Shi'ite terrorist group to the rising tensions in the Persian Gulf. According to the report, while the majority of the deployment has taken place on the Lebanon-Israel border, Hezbollah has also bolstered its forces in the Syrian Golan Heights. A Hezbollah commander The Daily Beast identified only as "Samir" said the g...
(JNS)-Michał Laszczkowski, CEO of Poland's Cultural Heritage Foundation, spends a great deal of time discussing Jewish law with rabbis at various Jewish cemeteries across Poland; in fact, it's safe to say that he does so much more than the average Jew. And yet, Laszczkowski is not himself Jewish. As the visionary behind the $28 million restoration and documenting of Jewish sepulchral heritage in Poland, Laszczkowski has helped the organization raise funds from Poland's Ministry of Culture and...
Man shot outside of Miami synagogue By Marcy Oster (JTA)—A man was shot outside of a synagogue in North Miami Beach. The victim was shot several times in the leg on Sunday evening, as he stood outside of the Young Israel of Greater Miami synagogue waiting for daily prayers to begin, according to multiple reports. Police told local media that a man got out of a black Chevrolet Impala and opened fire, striking the victim several times in the leg. Police chaplain Mark Rosenberg identified the victim to VIN News as 69-year-old Warren Lipschutz. T...
(JNS) — Losing members of one’s family to violence is traumatic for anyone, let alone the very young. Unfortunately, this is something too many Israeli children have experienced—terrorism and war have torn asunder thousands of Israeli families. Fortunately, there is an organization in Israel that focuses on helping such children put their lives back together. OneFamily, a nonprofit organization recognized in Israel, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, rehabilitates, reintegrates and rebuilds the lives of children bereaved by wa...
(JTA)-In the capital of Lithuania, an institution formerly known as the Museum of Genocide Victims barely mentions the murder of nearly all the country's Jews by Nazis and locals, focusing instead on the years of abusive Soviet rule. In Kaunas, Lithuania's second-largest city, another so-called museum hosts festivals and summer camps on the grounds of a former concentration camp for Jews known as the Seventh Fort, where the victims are not commemorated. In the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, a...
