In The News

The truth is a powerful weapon, but it is hard to find in a world where we are inundated with agenda-driven reporting. The CUFI Daily Briefing will help you understand current events so you can become a confident defender of Israel.

Sign up to receive our daily email news roundup – so you can fight the lies with truth.

SIGN UP NOW

Israel’s Historic Missile Test: A Message To Iran, Hezbollah, Allies

12/15/2020

Israel’s Missile Defense Organization and the US Missile Defense Agency have successfully completed an unprecedented, historic test designed to confront multiple threats using a multitiered system. Nothing like this has ever been reported to have been done before, and it represents a response to the latest threats emerging in the…

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange And Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Sign MOU

12/16/2020

Abu Dhabi Securities exchange (ADX) and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday, the ADX and TASE announced in a joint statement.

This is the first time an Arab exchange has entered into a commercial relationship with the State of Israel, according to the statement. The MOU aims to…

UAE, Bahrain Delegations Take Part In Western Wall Hanukkah Lighting Ceremony

12/14/2020

A delegation from both the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain took part Monday evening in the central menorah lighting at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, in a ceremony described by the site’s chief rabbi as a “Hanukkah miracle.”

The group was made up of social activists and opinion leaders from the Gulf countries, visiting Israel as…

Israeli Airlines Plan Daily Flights To Morocco

12/13/2020

Israeli airline El Al is planning to operate at least one daily flight to Morocco, Israeli business daily Globes reported on Friday.

The report came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announcedthat the North African country had agreed to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel.

Until now, Israelis have had to…

Jerusalem’s Archeological Tunneling Efforts Win Top Award

12/14/2020

Jerusalem’s Old City can now add another global feather to its cap: The archeological tunneling to explore and excavate its history has just won worldwide recognition by the International Tunneling and Underground Space Association (ITA).

Coming in at first place in the “Oddities of the Underground” category in the ITA’s sixth…

Congress Votes To Maintain Security Assistance To Israel

12/14/2020

The U.S. Congress passed a $741 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the 2021 fiscal year last week that includes the continuation of American assistance to Israel for missile-defense programs and other initiatives.

The Pentagon blueprint, which will need an appropriations bill to fund it, passed the U.S. House of…

Israel Inks Deal Establishing Diplomatic Relations With Bhutan

12/12/2020

Israel has established full diplomatic ties with Bhutan, a small, majority-Buddhist landlocked kingdom in the Himalayas neighboring India and China.

The agreement was signed on Saturday at a ceremony held at the residence of Israel’s Ambassador to India Ron Malka, with the ambassador of Bhutan to India Major General Vetsop…

Oman, Indonesia Likely Next Countries To Forge Ties With Israel

12/13/2020

Oman and Indonesia could be next in line to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in the coming weeks, a diplomatic source said Sunday.

The Trump administration is continuing in its efforts to bring more Arab and Muslim countries into the Abraham Accords. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco have agreed to…

Morocco And Israel Decide To Normalize Relations

12/10/2020

Israel and Morocco have agreed to establish diplomatic relations, US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday.

Morocco became the fourth Arab country to normalize ties with Israel in four months, following the Abraham Accords with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.

“Another historic breakthrough today!” Trump…

Jewish, Pro-Israel Groups React To Morocco Agreeing To Normalize Ties With Israel

12/10/2020

Jewish and pro-Israel groups reacted positively to Morocco’s announcement on Thursday of its intention to normalize ties with Israel.

It’s the fourth normalization deal in the past four months between Israel and Arab countries, after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan. These nations follow in the wake of Egypt and Jordan,…

Israel Joins UAE, Morocco And Bahrain In International Security Alliance

12/10/2020

In an unprecedented move, Israel officially joined the International Security Alliance (ISA) on Wednesday night, becoming its tenth member and joining countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain.

Other countries in the alliance include France, Italy, Senegal, Singapore, Spain, And Slovakia.

The move is “an…

Netanyahu Directs More Budgets For Israeli Aid To Honduras, Guatemala

12/10/2020

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed that additional budgets be allocated for the Israeli aid for Honduras and Guatemala in the wake of the damage done to the countries by recent hurricanes, his office announced Thursday.

A joint Home Front Command and Foreign Ministry delegation travelled to the Republic of Honduras last…

Netanyahu To Visit Egypt On Invitation From President Sisi: Report

12/10/2020
Visit said to focus on deepening security cooperation in face of Iranian threat

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to visit Egypt in the near future on an invitation from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Israel Hayom reported Wednesday.
The newspaper cited Egyptian sources as saying that an official visit could…

Lebanon PM Diab, 3 Ex-Ministers Indicted Over Beirut Blast In August: Report

12/10/2020
High-ranking Lebanese officials said charged with negligence that caused over 200 deaths

The lead investigator of the deadly August 4 blast at the Lebanese capital’s port indicted outgoing premier Hassan Diab and three ex-ministers on charges of negligence, a judicial source told AFP Thursday.
Also indicted are Finance Minister…

The Story Of Hanukkah

CUFI Coffee Break
Lesson 22
Starting tomorrow evening, many Jews will celebrate Hanukkah. Also called the Festival of Rededication, Hanukkah was added to the Jewish calendar in 164 BCE after the defilement of the Temple by the Syrian Greeks. In 167 BCE, Judah the Maccabee led a revolt against King Antiochus IV Ephiphanes, a vicious ruler who had…

Israel Scouting Out Sites To Set Up Embassy In Bahrain Before Year’s End

12/08/2020

Foreign Ministry representatives visited Bahraini capital Manama this week to look for potential locations to set up an Israeli embassy.

Israel plans to set up three temporary missions in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates by the end of the year, the Foreign Ministry said in a press briefing Tuesday.

There are plans for two…

Report: Investment In Israeli Companies To Reach Record $10 Billion Despite Pandemic

12/08/2020

Despite the global coronavirus pandemic, Israeli companies raised a record amount of capital in 2020, according to a new report by an Israeli NGO.

According to the report, released by Start-Up Nation Central (SNC) on Monday, as of the beginning of December, Israeli companies had raised $9.5 billion in capital, putting 2020 on…

Cargo Plane Carrying First Batch Of Pfizer Vaccine Lands In Israel

12/09/2020

Israel’s first batch of Pfizer vaccines landed on Wednesday as the country began to gear up for a mass vaccination effort to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.

The plane landed from Brussels carrying a cargo of between 3,000 and 4,000 doses of the vaccine in an initial delivery, with hundreds of thousands more set to…