Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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By Howard Lovy TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (JTA)—The year was 2000, and Michael Steinhardt had just dropped a bombshell that nearly brought an otherwise dignified conference to blows. “I tend, in my dourest moments, to consider both the Reform and Conservative Jews as historic accidents in the 21st century and suspect, before the end of this century, they will have disappeared,” he said. Steinhardt, along with Edgar Bronfman and Charles Schusterman, was in Chicago at a meeting of STAR: Synagogue Transformation and Renewal, which was ostensibly desig...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Days ahead of a workshop where Jared Kushner sought tens of billions of dollars for his Middle East peace plan, the White House unveiled an outline of its economic portion, including proposals, like a Gaza-West Bank travel corridor, that are sure to rattle Israel’s government. The Peace to Prosperity plan authored by a team led by Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and key adviser, was posted Saturday on the White House website. It does not outline the political portion of the peace plan, which the architects say w...
(JNS)—Despite bringing together a historic number of Arab states and prominent world leaders, the Bahrain economic conference, which seeks to be the first step in the Trump administration’s efforts to bring peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, has been buffeted and vilified, especially by the Palestinians, who called the Trump plan “dead on arrival” and have boycotted the summit. Senior adviser to and son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump Jared Kushner, who spearheaded the initiative, opened the two-day summit on Tuesday by calling...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak announced Wednesday that he is forming a new political party. At an evening news conference, Barak said he rushed to make the announcement to thwart Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to cancel the Sept. 17 election. “Netanyahu has reached the end” of his political career,” Barak said. “The Netanyahu regime must be felled.” “Bibi, this is your last chance to go home of your own volition,” he said, using Netanyahu’s nickname. Barak, who did not say what the name of his new party wo...
RAMAT GAN, Israel-Prof. Yitshak Kreiss, director general of Israel's Sheba Medical Center Tel HaShomer, attended the summit in Bahrain, held June 25-26, to discuss economic prospects for the Palestinian people as part of a first step in a potential Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. "I am both privileged and honored to have been personally invited by US. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin to the Peace and Prosperity Workshop in Bahrain," said Prof. Kreiss. Born together with Israel in 1948,...
(JNS)-"Far-right anti-Semitism is on the rise in the United States and Europe, but the response from both Jewish communities and law enforcement agencies has been defensive and case by case, rather than proactive and comprehensive," Yigal Carmon, the president of the Middle East Media Research Institute, told JNS in a recent interview. The threat to freedom in the United States is twofold, said Carmon. On the one hand is the jihadi threat, which manifests in terrorist attacks but is rooted in...
Before the wildfires were extinguished in Israel last month, organizations and communities throughout Israel stepped up to help the more than 3500 people who had been evacuated and displaced from their homes, including residents of Mevo Modiin, a community that was all but completely burned down. Calls to provide clothes and other supplies were responded to so much so that by the next morning, almost as quickly as the fire started and calls were issued to help, people were turned away because...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-After Iran announced that it will abandon further commitments agreed to under the 2015 nuclear deal, President Donald Trump threatened "obliteration" in "some areas" of the country. The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, told the semi-official Fars News Agency on Tuesday that the government will take new action on July 7. He said the other world powers who signed the deal had not done enough to save it in the face of the U.S. pullout last...
By Raphael Ofek (BESA Center via JNS)-IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano confirmed on June 10 that Iran is realizing its threat to increase its rate of uranium enrichment, in direct defiance of the terms of the nuclear agreement of 2015 (JCPOA). On May 7, Tehran threatened that if no solution was found to the problem of U.S. sanctions, it would ignore the restrictions on uranium enrichment placed on it by the nuclear agreement and enrich up to 20 percent. Two weeks later, on May 21, Iranian...
(JNS)-The United Nations General Assembly met on Wednesday to discuss the growing anti-Semitism worldwide, at the initiative of Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, who has enlisted the support of the United States, Canada and European Union countries. More than 90 countries participated in a discussion that included hundreds of guests from the Jewish community in the United States, Jewish and pro-Israel organizations and many more. "The sounds we heard at Pittsburgh and Poway do not...
Israeli rhythmic gymnast Linoy Ashram takes 2 gold medals at 2019 European Games By Marcy Oster (JTA)—Israeli rhythmic gymnast Linoy Ashram won two gold medals at the 2019 European Games in Minsk, Belarus. She won gold medals in the Ball event and Clubs event, both held on Sunday. She also won a silver medal during competition on Saturday. Arsham, 20, of Tel Aviv, is looking toward representing Israel and winning a medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Americans in Israel warned over planned demonstrations against US and Bahrain summit By M...
(JNS)-Just like "Rome wasn't built in a day," neither was Jerusalem, says Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Fleur Hassan-Nahoum. As a part of the city's development endeavors, Jerusalem's main entrance will undergo a grand makeover-a million-square-meter project including construction of a new entryway into the city, extension of the light rail and various new towers. Along with such growth, Jerusalem residents can expect associated growing pains since private vehicles will be blocked from entering...
JERUSALEM (JTA)-New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced the establishment of a foundation dedicated to combating anti-Semitism as he accepted the Genesis Prize award in Jerusalem on Thursday. In addition to the $1 million he received along with the prize, Kraft is putting $20 million of his own money toward the project, to be called the Foundation for Social Media Messaging Against Anti-Semitism. It is also receiving funding through two $5 million gifts, one of which was pledged by Rom...
(JNS)—In recent weeks, Iran and its proxies have begun operating under a new directive best described as a policy of controlled escalation. Still, the potential for miscalculation and region-wide conflict has grown considerably. Responding to the chokehold of U.S. sanctions put in place by the Trump administration, Tehran, together with its non-state militias and terrorist entities, initiated a series of aggressive acts throughout the Middle East. These include the targeting of oil tankers in t...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—A new Jewish community in the Golan Heights to honor President Donald Trump will be called Ramat Trump, translated as Trump Heights. A sign was unveiled Sunday during the weekly Cabinet meeting held in the Golan Heights at the site of the new community. The sign says Ramat Trump in Hebrew and Trump Heights in English under graphics of an Israeli flag and a U.S flag and surrounded by a gold border. A cornerstone-laying ceremony also was held. The name is listed in a bill to establish the community that has been submitted for a...
(JNS)—The ongoing tensions between America and Iran seemed to reach a tipping point late last week when the United States blamed Iran for being behind the attack on two ships in the Gulf of Oman. On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned that “of course” the United States could take military action. “The United States is considering a full range of options. We have briefed the president a couple of times, [and] we’ll continue to keep him updated. We are confident that we can take a set of actions that can restore deterrenc...
Palestinian village council head fired after Jews attend son’s wedding By Marcy Oster JERUSALEM (JTA)—The council head of a West Bank Palestinian village was removed from his office after video from his son’s wedding showed that four Jews participated in the party. Radi Nasser, head of the Deir Qadis Village Council was dismissed from the Fatah Party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Haaretz reported. Nasser also was fired from his position in the Palestinian Education Ministry. The four Jewish men reportedly arrived with invit...
(JNS)-Two tankers, one carrying oil and the other transferring a freight of methanol, in the Gulf of Oman near the strategic Strait of Hormuz were attacked on Thursday, less than a month after Iran was blamed for attacking four oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. Norwegian-owned tanker Front Altair and a Japanese-owned ship Kokuka Courageous were hit in the attack. The Norwegian Martime Agency said that three explosions were reported onboard the tanker. U.S. Secretary of State...
(JNS)-The campaigns for Israel's second elections in 2019 are underway and, after reviewing the first polls, many Israelis are asking if they may end up with a stalemate and no government following the second go-around. Initial polling results indicate that the Israeli right will once again be the closest to form a coalition. However, the numbers also reveal that following the Sept. 17 elections, Israel may very well end up again in a situation in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—The last living survivor of the Nazi death camp Sobibor has died. Semion Rosenfeld died on Monday at a hospital in central Israel at the age of 96. He moved to Israel from the Ukraine in 1990, according to the Jerusalem Post. Sobibor was built and operated by the SS during World War II near the railway station of Sobibor in Poland. At least 200,000 Jews were murdered in the gas chambers at Sobibor though some have put the number as high as 350,000. The camp was destroyed by the Germans at the end of 1943. Rosenfeld, who was b...
(JNS)—Iran has increased its uranium enrichment since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, warned the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday. However, while IAEA chief Yukiya Amano informed reporters about this development, he noted, “I did not say Iran is implementing [the JCPOA], but I did not say Iran is not implementing either.” Newsweek reported that “Amano specifically said that the country had increased its production of low-enriched uranium, the type of uranium that is used for produci...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—A rocket fired from Gaza hit a school building in the southern Israeli city of Sderot on Thursday evening. The building, identified as a Jewish religious school, was damaged but no injuries were reported. It was reported to be empty at the time of impact and was fortified against rockets. No one has taken responsibility for firing the rocket, but the Israeli military typically blames Hamas, the terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip. A Code Red rocket alert was sounded in the area and one rocket was identified as being f...
(JNS)—Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $42 million contract by Israel’s Defense Ministry to conduct “expansive maintenance services to the State of Israel,” as well as to operate and maintain an F-35 training center southeast of Beersheva over the next decade, announced the ministry. Additionally, the U.S. defense contractor will hire about 25 new workers from Israel’s southern area. Israel will cover half of the cost over the next five years, with the remainder conditional on a five-year extension. “This project is of great strategic i...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—David Friedman, U.S. ambassador to Israel, said Israel “has the right to retain” some of the West Bank. Palestinians fumed, Jewish settlers rejoiced, and the punditocracy predicted gloom and doom. What was it exactly that Friedman said in a New York Times interview. And what happens next? War, war crimes trial, one state, two states? What Netanyahu said Before we get to what the ambassador said, we first have to deal with what prompted his comment. The Times asked Friedman to speak on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netan...
(MEMRI via JNS)-A Palestinian sheikh said during an address at the Al-Aqsa mosque uploaded to the internet in June that Jerusalem is the "heartland" where the banners of the caliphate will flutter, where military convoys and brigades will assemble, and where policies will be designed to herald the "dawn of justice" and the birth of the Islamic Caliphate. Sheikh Abu Hanifa Awda said that the "army of Islam" would set forth from Jerusalem to conquer to world. Sheikh Abu Hanifa Awda: "Indeed, oh...
