Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) WASHINGTON—Ahead of the second round of American sanctions on Iran in November since the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on Friday that those measures will drastically change the way any business is done with the regime. “Make no mistake, come November 4th, there will be a fundamentally different set of rules on anyone who deems it necessary to engage in economic activity with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said. Pompeo added that countries, especially in Europe, have alrea... Full story
(JNS)-When Lt. S (full name withheld), a professional skateboarder, slammed into a safety barrier while traveling at 60 kilometers an hour during a sports event-breaking his back, pelvis and shin a few years ago-he knew he had a long road of recovery ahead of him. He also knew that his dream of having a meaningful service in the Israel Defense Forces would need to wait. Now though, the experience of getting back on his feet helped him gain the mental fortitude that he would later call upon to... Full story
(JNS)-Four years ago, the world waited with bated breath to learn the fate of three Israeli boys-Gilad Shaar, 16; Naftali Fraenkel, 16; and Eyal Yifrach, 19-after they went missing just outside the Gush Etzion community of Kfar Etzion. After a three-week search, news broke that their bodies had been found. Their abduction and murder set off a chain reaction that led to "Operation Protective Edge," the Israeli incursion into Gaza in the summer of 2014. One year later, on Nov. 17, 2015, Ezra Schwa... Full story
(JTA)—For years, American Jewish groups have agitated for more religious pluralism in Israel. And year after year, the Israeli government has acted as if the country’s demographic and political realities make any kind of substantial reform impossible. The latest version of an annual survey disputes that claim: It shows that Jewish Israelis disapprove of how their government handles religious issues. It shows that they want more liberal religious policies. And it says they want American Jews to intervene in the debate. The one wrinkle is tha... Full story
PRAGUE (JTA)-A new Torah scroll is being used in this historic city by one of its two Reform Jewish congregations to welcome the High Holidays and the series of solemn and joyous celebrations that conclude with, what else, Simchat Torah-the rejoicing of the Torah. But it's really not a new scroll at all. Originally a Czech scroll, the Torah has spent the last several decades at a Reform synagogue in London. How it got there, and how it made its way back to Prague, points to the continuing rebuil... Full story
One of Hezbollah’s most important members arrested in Brazil BUENOS AIRES (JTA)—One of Hezbollah’s most wanted members, Assad Ahmad Barakat, was arrested near Brazil’s border with Argentina and Paraguay on Friday. Barakat has been labeled by the U.S. Treasury as one of the Lebanese terrorist group’s main financiers. He is part of the Barakat Clan, a criminal organization known for its links to Hezbollah. Barakat was arrested in Foz de Iguazú, in southern Brazil. That triple border, or Triple Frontier as it is known as, has been linked wit... Full story
(JNS)-It's hard to believe that it's been a quarter of a century: Sept. 13 marked the 25th anniversary of the 1993 signing of the U.S.-brokered Declaration of Principles between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Known also as the Oslo Accords, the deal signed between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin and PLO head Yasser Arafat recognized the PLO as the official representative of the Palestinian people. With peace between the two sides the ultimate goal, Israel gradually hande... Full story
(JNS)—Amid tensions between the Trump administration and the Palestinian Authority, the former announced on Sept. 10 that the Washington offices of the Palestine Liberation Organization will close in the same week as the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords on the White House lawn is being marked by politicians and the press. “We have permitted the PLO office to conduct operations that support the objective of achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between Israelis and the Palestinians since the expiration of a previous wai... Full story
(JNS)—A bipartisan bill that would cement U.S. military aid to Israel into law has passed a major hurdle on Wednesday night. The U.S. House of Representative approved the measure, known as the Ileana Ros-Lehtinen U.S.-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018, several weeks after it passed the Senate. It will now head for the president’s desk. Under the proposed legislation, the $38 billion in military aid over 10 years spelled out under the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding would be funded through a special mechanism that would be... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel closed its embassy in Paraguay following an announcement by the South American country that it was relocating its embassy back to Tel Aviv four months after moving to Jerusalem. The move comes as Paraguay joins the effort to bring peace to the Middle East. “Paraguay wants to contribute to an intensification of regional diplomatic efforts to achieve a broad, fair and lasting peace in the Middle East,” Foreign Minister Luis Alberto Castiglioni told reporters on Wednesday. Shortly after the announcement of the return to Te... Full story
(Israel Hayom via JNS)-U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman believes that the Golan Heights will remain under Israeli sovereignty, and certainly won't be placed back in the hands of Syria's current leader, President Bashar Assad. In an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom, which will be published in full on Friday, Friedman says that "I can't imagine a circumstance where the Golan Heights will be returned to Syria. I cannot imagine, frankly, a circumstance where the Golan Heights is not a... Full story
Thousands mourn Ari Fuld, prominent Israel activist stabbed to death by Palestinian JERUSALEM (JTA)—For more than four hours, thousands mourned at a West Bank cemetery for Ari Fuld, the victim of a terrorist stabbing who is being called a hero and “a lion of Israel,” a play on his name, which means lion. Many waved Israeli flags during and after the funeral for the U.S.-born Israel activist killed outside a shopping mall near Efrat, the Etzion bloc town where he lived. The funeral for Fuld, a 45-year-old father of four, began close to midni... Full story
(JNS)-For five months now, since March 2018, Israeli communities bordering Gaza have sustained ongoing terrorism and arson from hundreds of rockets and incendiary devices, causing constant stress and chaos for the 50,000 people who call this region home. Residential and commercial damage, along with some 10,000 acres of land, including forests and agricultural plots, have been destroyed. Just as the worst seemed to be over, this month more than 200 rockets struck the Eshkol and Sha'ar HaNegev Re... Full story
Recently, JTA reported that a Reform congregation won a legal battle to build a synagogue building in the central Israeli city of Hod Hasharon, a wealthy city located several miles north of Tel Aviv. Former Orlando resident Lori Stein Erlich and her Israeli husband, Moshe Erlich, are members of this congregation. Back in 2014, the Erlichs visited the Heritage office to share their vision of having a building for their Reform/Conservative congregation, Kehilat Yonatan (see the article titled "The... Full story
On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump told Jewish leaders that the Palestinians would not receive any more aid from the U.S., unless they made a deal with Israel. Trump made the remarks during a conference call placed in anticipation of the Jewish New Year in which the president communicated with a number of American Jewish leaders. Trump’s remarks arrive on the heels of his administration’s decision to cut funds both to the Palestinians’ dedicated UN agency, UNRWA, and direct aid to the Palestinians. To that end, Trump noted during the c... Full story
Israel’s Channel 10 News published a report on Tuesday based on comments from a senior Fatah official demonstrating Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ intense hostility toward any potential deal between Israel and the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip. According to the report, the Fatah official told Channel 10 that Abbas was furious with the Egyptians for mediating the agreement, which the PA chief referred to as “treachery and defiance against the leadership.” The official also claimed that Abbas acknowledged that the suppose... Full story
(JTA)—J.K. Rowling went head to head with a fellow British writer on Twitter over his criticism of Jewish complaints about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. Simon Maginn, who has written five thrillers under his own name and satirical comedies under the name Simon Nolan, on Sunday in a tweet called Jewish outrage over Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s 2013 comments indicating that “Zionists” do not understand British culture “patently synthetic outrage,” and called on a Jewish tweeter to “Explain your deep and wounding sense of injury.” Rowl... Full story
Trump said Jared Kushner should not serve in White House (JTA)—President Donald Trump last year agreed with a former aide that Jared Kushner should not serve in the White House due to potential complications involving Kushner’s business dealings, the new book by journalist Bob Woodward claims. According to a story in Newsweek, “Fear: Trump in the White House” says that Trump contemplated the liability posed to him by Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser, following reports that Kushner’s business interests were being looked into by U.S sp... Full story
It all started with 50 faxes. Yes, faxes. In 1992, after moving to South Florida, Rabbi Kalman Packouz was fascinated with the latest technology, a fax modem. So he found a way to put it to good use, by sending out a one-page "dot-matrix" fax about the weekly Torah portion to 50 people. Today, it's still sent out by fax to tens of thousands and has grown to become one of the world's most popular Jewish emails as well with hundreds of thousands of readers worldwide. The goal of the Shabbat... Full story
(JTA)-A former guard at a Nazi concentration camp was deported to Germany overnight from the United States, where he had lived for decades. Jakiw Palij, 95, had lived in Queens, New York. He served as a guard at the Trawniki concentration camp near Lublin, Poland, during World War II, and may face prosecution in Germany for his actions. Members of New York's congressional delegation last year urged the Trump administration to deport Palij, whose citizenship was revoked in 2003 based on his... Full story
(JTA)—A senior clergywoman in the Episcopal Church of Massachusetts has apologized for comments accusing Israel of fabricated atrocities. During a speech last month to the church’s General Convention, Bishop Suffragen Gayle Harris claimed that she had witnessed Israeli security forces arrest a 3-year-old on the Temple Mount and shoot a 15-year-old in the back 10 times after making a comment to a group of soldiers. Harris, the second-highest ranking Episcopal official in the state, later clarified that she had heard the stories from a third par... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—PepsiCo will acquire the Israeli home soda maker manufacturer SodaStream for $3.2 billion, the soft drink giant said Monday. PepsiCo plans to maintain the Israeli company’s current base of operations in the Negev. SodaStream will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary. The American multinational agreed to acquire all of the outstanding shares of SodaStream International Ltd. for $144 per share. “PepsiCo and SodaStream are an inspired match,” PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi said in a statement. SodaStream CEO Danie... Full story
(JNS)—An Israeli report has revealed that the son of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas told a top Trump administration official that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is unrealistic. According to Israel’s Channel 10, Tarek Abbas told White House special envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt last September on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York that he does not think a two-state solution is possible, and that the solution is one state with equal rights for all citizens. Mahmoud Abb... Full story
MOSCOW (JTA)—Israel’s passage of the nation-state law brought another round of barrages across the Atlantic underlining the growing alienation of the world’s two largest Jewish communities. The issues are increasingly familiar: American pluralism versus Jewish exceptionalism, Orthodox versus Liberal, nationalism versus enlightenment. Yes, we have a problem. Israel and American Jewry are growing apart from one other. It would be wrong to put the responsibility of this growing schism only on the Israeli government, or Israeli civil society, since... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Israel's new "nation-state" law, which is widely viewed here as clumsy, unnecessary and unwise, must be amended. That's why I was proud to join tens of thousands of Israelis on Saturday night in a peaceful, unifying protest led by the Druze community. I came to this city's Rabin Square to stand with the Druze, with whom I fought to protect the State of Israel. But I also came to celebrate Israeli democracy; the public's commitment to equality and democratic values; our independent... Full story
