Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS)—The Hamas rocket that shattered a village home in the Sharon district of central Israel, north of Tel Aviv early on morning of March 25, is an attack that for Israeli leadership represents a step too far. Eleven days after Hamas fired two rockets in the direction of Tel Aviv—in what it claimed was “an accidental” maintenance error—this time, it appears as if the organization’s addiction to gambling and upping the ante to extract concessions from Israel has led it to commit a serious mistake, one that will come with punishing repercussio...
(JNS)—Russia, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iraq criticized the United States for recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, following a ceremony attended by U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. The ceremony featured the signing of an official proclamation, and was also attended by Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The pen Trump used to sign the declaration was handed to Netanyahu as a gift for the Israeli people. “In a blatant attack on the sov...
(JTA)-President Donald Trump recently signed a proclamation recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Here's what you need to know about the Golan Heights, the 52-year argument over the plateau and why Trump's proclamation is a big deal for Israel's upcoming election. What is the Golan Heights? The Golan Heights is a territory in Israel's northeast corner, on the Syrian border. It's rural, mountainous and mostly empty. Fewer than 50,000 people live there-less than 1 percent of...
(JNS)—The Young Progressives of America at Brooklyn College and the Brooklyn College Islamic Society & Muslim Women’s Educational Initiative held a vigil on Friday, memorializing the 50 Muslim worshippers murdered in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15 with students chanting terrorist slogans. The Instagram account of the Brooklyn College Student Union clearly displays students chanting, “Long Live the Intifada!” Additionally, an unidentified student accurately mentioned that there were six Palestinians who were killed in the shootin...
(MEMRI via JNS)—Palestinian cleric Abu Taqi Al-Din Al-Dari said in an Al-Aqsa mosque address that was uploaded to the Internet on March 12, 2019, that young people in Germany and France do not value marriage as much as Muslims do, but that this is not the reason that France will become an Islamic country. Rather, he explained, France will become an Islamic country through jihad, since Muslims must have a country that will bring Islam’s guidance and message to the West. He gave examples of times in history when countries in the West and Asi...
(JNS)—Iran could be trying to build missile factories in Syria again, according to recent reports, raising the possibility of further Israeli preemptive action. The Israeli commercial satellite company ImageSat International (ISI) published images this month showing suspicious activity at a compound in Safita in northwest Syria. “The construction patterns, the compound location and the activity signs at the compound and its region increase the probability that this is a missiles manufacturing site,” ISI assessed. Israel remains committed to the...
(JNS)—Daniel Wolf, whose home was hit by a long-range missile from Gaza on Monday, said although his family home was destroyed in the attack, “a lot of miracles happened” that ultimately spared the family from death. “We are in shock, but the most important thing is that we are all OK,” Daniel Wolf told Channel 13 from the hospital. “It was traumatic. After the explosion, there was silence, dust and screaming. Destruction everywhere.” The Wolfs, who live in Mishmeret north of Tel Aviv, faintly heard the siren just after 5 a.m. “When I heard the...
Israeli spacecraft ‘Beresheet’ sends new images to Earth (JNS)—Fresh images and video were transmitted to Earth from the Israeli spacecraft “Beresheet” as it makes its way to the moon, announced SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries on Sunday. SpaceIL and IAI engineering teams, based in Israel, have downloaded new images and videos from the spacecraft. The photos and videos were taken by the spacecraft at different heights and times. One of the videos includes a sunrise from the spacecraft’s viewpoint—the Earth can be seen hiding the sun from...
(JTA)-It wasn't so long ago that most major Israeli politicians supported establishing a Palestinian state. Now it's not clear that any of them do, including the current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu began his political career in the 1970s opposing a Palestinian state, an idea that once had been off the table but was gaining traction. Three decades later, in 2009, he gave a pivotal speech endorsing the idea in principle. In 2015, however, Netanyahu retreated from the idea on the...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Adam Milstein, a major pro-Israel funder, has withdrawn from speaking at the annual AIPAC policy conference following a series of tweets in which he accused two Muslim lawmakers of clashing with "American values." The American Israel Public Affairs Committee distanced itself from Milstein. Milstein, the chairman of the Israeli American Council, said his views as expressed on Twitter had been "mischaracterized." "My social media postings represent my views-and my views alone,"...
(JTA)-Portugal used to be little more than a sunny holiday destination to Adam Perry, a 46-year-old Londoner who works in procurement. But following the United Kingdom's 2016 vote to leave the European Union, Perry, who is a Sephardic Jew, applied for citizenship in the Iberian nation. Since 2015, legislation there and in Spain allows for the naturalization of descendants of refugees persecuted 500 years ago. Amid growing uncertainty over Brexit, whose deadline is March 29 (for now), applying...
US Jewish communities support Muslim neighbors at prayer services and vigils By Marcy Oster (JTA)—Jewish communities throughout the United States attended vigils and services at mosques in their communities to express support and concern in the wake of the murder by a white supremacist of at least 50 Muslim worshipers at two New Zealand mosques. The Levine Center to End Hate and the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester organized members of the Jewish community to stand outside of the Islamic Center of Rochester on Sunday to show support a...
(Research Institute for European and American Studies via JNS)-Nearly eight years into the civil war in Syria, the government forces led by Syrian President Bashar Assad-and supported by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah-have regained control of the majority of Syria. As the war appears to wind down, diplomatic efforts are being made by the Assad regime and Arab countries to normalize relations. The victory of the Assad regime, Russian regional influence, the withdrawal of American forces from Syria,...
AMSTERDAM (JTA)-The Netherlands' main Jewish weekly is the kingdom's oldest commercial magazine and one of its most reputable publications. Which is why many Dutch were shocked to read a column Tuesday by its editor announcing that she is leaving for Israel because of rising anti-Semitism here. "I am leaving for the only country where getting called a dirty Jew simply means I have to take a bath," wrote Esther Voet, the longtime editor in chief of the 155-year-old Nieuw Israelietisch Weekblad....
(JNS)—Israel’s Supreme Court banned Otzma Yehudit candidate Michael Ben-Ari from running in the upcoming national elections—the first time Israel’s highest court has ever prevented a single individual from running in an Israeli election—in opposition to a decision by the Central Elections Committee. In an 8-1 vote, the Supreme Court voted in favor of a petition to disqualify Ben-Ari due to anti-Arab beliefs and incitement. The court’s decision had been urged by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and represents the first time that the Supreme...
REHOVOT, ISRAEL— The main scientific instrument on board the Israeli Beresheet spacecraft, the SpaceIL Magnetometer, has now been successfully turned on in space and data returned to Earth. After its successful launch, Beresheet is circling Earth on its journey to the Moon. Prof. Oded Aharonson of the Weizmann Institute of Science is heading the team that is currently analyzing the SILMAG information to evaluate the health and accuracy of the instrument in space, as well as recording the magnetic signature of the spacecraft itself, which w...
(JNS)-Last Thursday night's twin rocket attack on greater Tel Aviv from the Gaza Strip marks a dramatic escalation of the security situation that could prove to be highly costly for Hamas. While it remains unclear at the time of this writing which terrorist organization is responsible for the rockets, the attacks represent a break from the past months of controlled escalation, a policy led by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The symbolism involved in firing on Israel's largest metropolis and economic...
(The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs via JNS)-Two developments currently taking place in the Palestinian arena deserve our attention, and both of these are interlinked: the proposed new government in Ramallah and the situation at the Al-Aqsa plaza on the Temple Mount. In Ramallah, P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas has asked Mohammad Shtayyeh to form a new government, while on the Temple Mount, tensions continue to mount around the Golden Gate or "Gate of Mercy" (Sha'ar HaRachamim or Bab el Rahma)....
(JTA)-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief rival, Benny Gantz, will speak at the annual AIPAC policy conference in Washington ahead of national elections next month in Israel. Gantz, whose new center-left Blue and White party is leading Netanyahu's Likud in the polls, will address the pro-Israel lobby's main session plenary on March 25. Gantz, a former chief of staff of the Israeli military who heads Blue and White, will "use his speech to emphasize that after the election he...
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has appointed a Fatah Party insider who was educated abroad as prime minister. Mohammad Shtayyeh, a longtime Abbas ally, was announced on Sunday as the new prime minister. He replaces Rami Hamdallah, who had been prime minister since 2014. Shtayyeh, a member of the central committee of the Palestinian president's Fatah party, will form a new government. An economist, Shtayyeh earned a PhD in development at Sussex University in Britain...
(JNS)-After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Golan Heights this week together with U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk set off a firestorm when he tweeted, "Like it or not, the Golan Heights are Syrian territory. Israel cannot give them up now given its legitimate security concerns. But to recognize Israel's annexation of territory that is not its own is to play with fire for partisan...
(JNS)-Caroline B. Glick, a senior columnist at Breitbart News, was the senior contributing and chief columnist for The Jerusalem Post until she decided to run for the Knesset in the upcoming April national elections. Born in Houston, she grew up in Chicago and moved to Israel in 1991, two weeks after earning her bachelor's degree in political science from Columbia University. She joined the Israel Defense Forces that summer and served as an officer for five-and-a-half years. From 1994-1996, as...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Diaspora Jews can’t vote in Israeli elections. It’s been proposed and, so far, consistently shot down by Israeli lawmakers. And, let’s be honest, the average Israeli voter rarely, if ever, thinks about Diaspora Jews. And they base their votes on the same issues that voters in other countries do—for example, the economy, education, health care and security (OK, so the last one is more an Israeli thing). So it should come as no surprise that most of the candidates in Israel’s national elections on April 9 are not really worr...
Cruz to introduce resolution condemning anti-Semitism (JNS)—U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has reportedly been spearheading a resolution explicitly condemning anti-Semitism that he plans to introduce early next week. Jewish Insider reported the development on Friday, citing “a source familiar with the plan,” who said it is “just a condemnation of anti-Semitism. There’s nothing extraneous. The entire thing clocks in at just over 100 words.” It comes one day after the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning anti-...
(Chabad.org/News via JNS)—One of the chief engineers involved in the creation and post-launch supervision of the moon-bound Israeli spacecraft “Beresheet” is a Chabad-Lubavitch Chassid who overcame Soviet oppression and anti-Semitism to play a leading role in Israel’s public and private space programs. Mathematician and engineer Alexander Friedman, 68, currently enjoys the freedoms and high accolades of a noted Israeli rocket scientist, but was once part of a Soviet-era family forced to pray in silence for fear the neighbors would turn them in...
