Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Barbra Streisand slams Golden Globes for not giving award to women directors JTA—Barbra Streisand criticized the sexism of Hollywood while presenting an award at the Golden Globes, pointing out that she is the only woman to have received its best director award. “Backstage I heard they said I was the only woman... to get the best director award, and you know, that was 1984: That was 34 years ago. Folks, time’s up!” Streisand said before presenting the final award of the night for best motion picture. Streisand’s best director award at the Go...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Iranians are taking to the streets in spontaneous demonstrations across the country to protest government corruption and a failing economy. The depth and breadth of popular Iranian anger have taken the West by surprise, nowhere more so than in Washington, where the focus on Iran since Donald Trump assumed the presidency has been on whether he would preserve the 2015 nuclear deal. Until Dec. 28, this was the calculus: Would Trump kill the agreement or be content with dismissing...
Love him or hate him, 2017 was a year dominated by President Donald Trump. The US-Israel relationship was no stranger to that, ranging from Trump's visit to the Jewish state in May to his historic decision on Jerusalem in December. At the same time, some of this year's other major stories in the Israeli-American arena had little or nothing to do with Trump. JNS takes a look back at the following five key moments in US-Israel relations during the past year: Trump's policy changes on Jerusalem On...
The Reform movement has started to retreat from its opposition to the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Following President Donald Trump’s recognition announcement, Union for Reform Judaism President Rabbi Rick Jacobs issued a statement on Dec. 6 expressing “serious concern” that the president’s action “may well undercut the Administration’s peace process efforts and risk destabilizing the region.” The URJ’s opposition broke with the broad American Jewish communal support of the Jerusalem recogni...
Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt are incensed at Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas over his reaction to US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, according to Israeli media reports. Israel Hayom quoted a Jordanian official as saying, "The Palestinians' efforts to sway public opinion have been a complete failure, and as a result, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has created a rift between us [the Arab world] and Trump. We are once again left...
BUENOS AIRES (JTA)-A federal judge in Argentina said that AMIA Jewish center bombing prosecutor Alberto Nisman was murdered. It is the first time since Nisman's death in January 2015 that the case has officially been classified as murder. Others have said that Nisman committed suicide in the bathroom of his Buenos Aires apartment. Judge Julian Ercolini on Tuesday in a 656-page ruling said the gunshot that killed Jewish prosecutor Alberto Nisman "was not a suicide, and was brought about by a...
The Samaria area has recently seen a massive increase in tourism from around the globe, Israel’s NRG news reported Thursday. The biblical heartland has seen an increase of some 200 percent in incoming tourism, mostly from Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. Increased tourism from Sweden, Australia and the US is also noteworthy. The local municipality explained that the sharp increase in tourism is the outcome of intensive efforts on its part to publicize the region’s unique attractions and sites. The Samaria Reg...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—With the arrival of a flight carrying 93 new immigrants, a total of 3,633 people from North America made aliyah in 2017, Nefesh B’Nefesh reported. The group flight that landed at Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday included 15 future lone soldiers and a soon-to-be bride, according to the organization. Nefesh B’Nefesh, in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael and JNF-USA, helps facilitate aliyah—the Hebrew term for Jewish immigrati...
United with Israel does not use the term 'occupied' when referring to areas controlled by Israel since June 1967. US Ambassador David Friedman apparently agrees. Although many call the territories to the west of the Jordan River captured by Israel in the Six Day War the "West Bank," United with Israel prefers to use the historically and geographically correct term 'Judea and Samaria.' 'Occupied' is a loaded political phrase that indicates, just by its usage, that Israel is the occupier and not...
The National Basketball Association set up a new website for the 2018 All-Star Game in Los Angeles, allowing fans to vote for their favorite players. After voting, the fans are asked to identify which country they are from, picking from among a variety of choices that included both Israel and “Palestine—occupied territory.” Several fans discovered the listing when voting this week for Israeli NBA player Omri Casspi. Regev: ‘A gross and blatant interference’ “I view the inclusion of ‘Occupied Palestine’ in the list of countries appearing on yo...
Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system blocked two missiles fired into Israel shortly before noon on Friday. A third landed in a community bordering Gaza. No injuries were reported, but a building was damaged. The Code Red alarms were sounded during a ceremony marking the would-be 24th birthday of IDF soldier Oron Shaul, whose body has been held by Hamas in Gaza since Operation Protective Edge. Before the incident, Oron’s mother told the crowd, “We’re here to mark his birthday. We’ve decided to come here so we can be as close to Oron as p...
Israeli government OKs $72 Million anti-BDS project (JTA)—Israel’s government has approved a plan setting aside $72 million to fighting the campaign to boycott Israel. The plan would entail the largest monetary investment yet by Israel specifically toward combating the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. It was announced last week to the cabinet ministers and approved as an executive order after none of them objected, the Ynet news site reported Friday. It calls for setting up a not-for-profit organization whose board will be made up...
Thousands of protesters took to the streets this weekend in cities throughout Iran to demonstrate against the Islamic Republic’s strained economy, corrupt regime and costly military expansion throughout the region, in what has been characterized as the country’s largest wave of anti-government protests since the “Green Revolution” erupted in 2009 following a controversial presidential election. Although experts believe it is too soon to tell how the renewed anti-regime protests will affect Israel, Meir Litvak, director of the Alliance Center...
A new elite IDF infantry unit is about to take up its position along Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip. The Haruv (Carob) unit, named after a renowned force that operated in Israel’s southern desert borders in the 1960s and 1970s, was once a regular infantry battalion in the Kfir brigade, focusing on security operations in Judea and Samaria (the territories). Several months ago, the IDF decided to convert this battalion into an elite unit, and to give it the training, weapons, vehicles and high-tech equipment it would need to fight in Gaz...
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Jason Greenblatt, President Donald Trump's chief Israeli-Palestinian negotiator, has an office just around the corner from the White House. On his computer monitor is a Post-it note, inscribed with a quote from former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo: "At the end of the day, a peace agreement derives its strength from an understanding between peoples, not an accord between governments." It's an appropriate message for Greenblatt, an affable Orthodox Jew who's been tasked by Trump with...
NEW YORK—On Friday, Dec. 22, Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Honorable Irwin Cotler, addressed a special session of the United Nations Security Council on International Humanitarian Law and the repatriation of the remains of Hadar Goldin, abducted and murdered by Hamas in violation of a UN-mandated humanitarian ceasefire. Security Council Member nations—including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Russia, France, Italy, Sweden, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Senegal and Uruguay—expressed their...
(JTA)-Political turmoil, terror attacks and natural disasters around the world: 2017 had plenty of people feeling down, for good reason. But there were also notable moments of light. As this year draws to a close, here is a chronology of some of the more heartwarming stories JTA published this year. An Orthodox Jew builds bridges with his Yemeni Muslim neighbors After President Donald Trump issued his first executive order banning immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, Alexander R...
(JNS) The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a resolution denouncing President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The 193-member General Assembly voted 128-9, with 35 abstentions, to express “deep regret” over Trump’s Jerusalem policy changes, which also include plans to move the U.S. embassy to that city. The nine countries voting against the resolution were the U.S., Israel, Togo, Micronesia, Guatemala, Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands and Honduras. The 35 abstentions included...
(JNS) The Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation (MFF) on Monday announced the winners of its second competition for the creation of pro-Israel social media memes. The competition brought together hundreds of participants from around the world, including the U.S., Israel, Egypt, South Africa, Germany, Romania, Kenya and Denmark. Second prize winner Eric Fihman created a meme featuring Israeli actress Gal Gadot's "Wonder Woman" movie character along with the "wonder women" of the IDF and text...
Hamas's latest effort to join a Palestinian unity government is little more than a facade, and the terror group's top immediate objective is to seize control of Judea and Samaria and turn it into a second Gaza, according to the assessments of defense experts. After years of failed attempts at reconciliation, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement and Hamas in October announced that they would implement a unity deal, which included the restoration of PA control in...
By Ben Sales NEW YORK (JTA)-When President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, many foreign policy experts called it a blunder. It could spark a conflagration of violence in the city, they said. It would alienate Palestinians who revere the city and ice any remaining hopes of a peace process. It could be the death knell for an increasingly elusive two-state solution. "Raising this the way he has done doesn't advance the cause of peace, it doesn't advance the cause of...
(JNS) The U.S. on Monday vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that called for President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital to be withdrawn. Following the vote, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley called the Security Council measure “an insult” and said it will not be forgotten. “The United States will not be told by any country where we can put our embassy,” she said, referring to Trump’s plans to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. “The fact that this veto is being done in defense of America’s role...
(JNS) As President Donald Trump was poised to publicize his administration’s national security doctrine Monday, reports indicate that the document will emphasize that Israel is not the cause of chaos in the Middle East. According to The Associated Press, the 70-page doctrine is based upon a significantly different national security approach than that of Trump’s predecessor, President Barack Obama, particularly regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “For generations the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has been understood as th...
(JTA)—More than 130 Jewish studies scholars from U.S. colleges and universities signed a statement expressing “dismay” at President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The statement criticizes Trump’s “decision to reverse decades of bipartisan U.S. policy by declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel, and authorizing the relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv, outside of a negotiated political framework that ends the legal state of occupation and ensures respect for the rights of all Israelis and Palestinians...
(JTA)-This hasn't been a good year for Israel and American Jews. The two poles of world Jewry, each boasting about half of the globe's total Jews, have never quite seen eye to eye on everything from religion to politics. But this year-particularly the last six months-has seen those disagreements balloon into public spats over the future of the Jewish people and Jewish values. Compromises have been scratched, meetings canceled, donations redirected. A leading American rabbi demanded that an...
