US-Israel Relationship

At CUFI, we believe a strong, secure, and sovereign Israel is key to a strong and secure United States. Israel needs America, and America needs Israel. We are two nations with shared values, defending the same principles, and thus engaged in the same fight against common enemies. On May 14, 1948, the US was the first country to recognize the nascent State of Israel just eleven minutes after Israel declared its independence. Since then, the US has been a friend to Israel, our most critical ally in the Middle East. One of CUFI’s core concerns is to shape and strengthen the US-Israel relationship to the safety and security of both our nations.

US-Israel Relationship

US to buy two Iron Dome batteries as first part of $1.7b missile defense project

The US Army plans to buy two Israeli-developed Iron Dome batteries and deploy them next year as a first step in a new $1.7 billion project to both provide American troops an interim defense against cruise missiles and also explore long-term adoption of Iron Dome components for use in a major US air and missile defense system.

This decision, which…

US-Israel Relationship

DeSantis Threatens Airbnb with Sanctions over Israeli Settlement Boycott

TEL AVIV – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday ordered state officials to boycott Airbnb when conducting state business and said he would make the vacation rental giant “feel the heat” unless it walks back its decision banning rentals in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
“We have a moral obligation to oppose the Airbnb policy; it does target…

US-Israel Relationship

Lawmakers reintroduce pro-Israel bill that didn’t make cut in last Congress

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Republican Senator Marco Rubio from Florida reintroduced pro-Israel legislation that did not get passed in the last Congress.

Rubio, together with Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, on Thursday, the first day of the new Congress, combined a number of Middle East-related bills into a single bill, jump-starting the process.

“First item…

US-Israel Relationship

Israel, U.S. slated to leave UNESCO today to protest anti-Israel bias

Israel and the United States are slated to leave the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific organization today over its anti-Israel bias.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry is expected to make an announcement on the matter later today.

Israel has been a member state of UNESCO since 1949. In the last 17 years, the global cultural body has…

US-Israel Relationship

Bolton: US ‘strongly supports’ anti-tunnel operation in Israel’s north

US National Security Adviser John Bolton on Tuesday expressed “strong support” for Israel’s operation against Hezbollah attack tunnels crossing the Lebanese border, saying Washington backed Jerusalem’s “efforts to defend its sovereignty.”

In a tweet, Bolton called on the Iranian-backed Lebanese terror group to stop digging tunnels into Israel and…

US-Israel Relationship

In blow to Palestinians, US places Jerusalem consulate under embassy

The State Department announced Thursday that it would bring its main diplomatic mission to the Palestinians under the auspices of the US Embassy to Israel in Jerusalem, marking an implicit downgrading of the facility’s status and a fresh blow to its already strained ties with the Palestinians.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the move was…

US-Israel Relationship

Pompeo: U.S. blocked $165m in funding due to Palestinian incitement

The State Department on Wednesday denied a $165 million transfer of aid to the Palestinian Authority over its failure to adhere to the Taylor Force Act, a law that bars the government from continuing aid to the PA unless Ramallah ceases its practice of compensating the families of murderers and terrorists convicted in Israel.

“I actually signed a…

US-Israel Relationship

Haley tells PM that Palestinians should complain to Abbas, not Israel

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Friday the Palestinian people should complain to their own leader and not to Israel, and urged Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to resume peace negotiations with Israel.

“We believe that the Palestinians are going to have come to the table. President Abbas is not helping the…

US-Israel Relationship

Trumps Decision to Close PLO’s Mission in D.C. Advances Peace

US President Donald Trump’s administration’s decision Tuesday to close the Palestine Liberation Organization’s mission in Washington will help bring about peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Michael Oren (Kulanu), a former ambassador to the United States.

Oren said Palestinian…

US-Israel Relationship

US Army inks $193 million deal to buy Israeli tank defense system

The US Army on Tuesday awarded a contract worth nearly $200 million for Israel’s TROPHY defense system to shield its Abrams tanks, according to the Rafael Advanced Defense Systems contractor.

The systems, which block incoming anti-tank missiles, will be supplied to the US Army by the Armerican defense contractor Leonardo DRS, Inc., which…

US-Israel Relationship

Netanyahu: US envoys offered ‘complete support’ for handling of Gaza clashes

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said he received “complete support” from the US peace team during their meetings over the weekend regarding Israel’s response to clashes on the Gaza border.

Netanyahu met with Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, and peace envoy Jason Greenblatt on Friday and…

US-Israel Relationship

On eve of Israel visit, Greenblatt blasts Hamas, criticizes PA

A day before arriving in Israel for talks, US Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt wrote a blistering Twitter post against Hamas – translated into Arabic and Hebrew – asking how the world can help when “murderous Hamas leaders continue to squander the resources of Gaza.”

Writing that Hamas continues to “fail the Palestinians of Gaza” through arson…

US-Israel Relationship

The ‘Haley effect’

In many Jewish households on Friday nights, parents bless their daughters in the names of our matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. We do so to hold our highest role models to our girls. Lately though, I’ve had the creeping inclination to consider another name to this list of women in whose footsteps I hope my daughter will follow: U.S….

US-Israel Relationship

Israel welcomes ‘courageous’ US pullout from UN Human Rights Council

Israel on Tuesday night welcomed an announcement that the United States will withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council, praising the move as a “courageous decision against the hypocrisy and the lies” of the international body that UN ambassador Nikki Haley said harbors bias against the Jewish state.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the US…

US-Israel Relationship

U.S. Announces Its Withdrawal From U.N.’s Human Rights Council

After more than a year of complaints and warnings — some subtle and others a little less so — the Trump administration has announced that the United States is withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley announced the decision in a joint statement to the media…

US-Israel Relationship

Source: US to Withdraw From UN Human Rights Body

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley will announce on Tuesday that the United Sates is withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council, a Trump administration source told Reuters.

The United States is half-way through a three-year term on the main UN rights body and had long threatened to…

US-Israel Relationship

US Senate approves $500m for Israel’s missile defense program

The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act passed by the US Senate yesterday allocates $500 million for Israeli missile programs and $50 million for a joint US-Israeli program for combating the tunnels threat.

This is the first time that military aid to Israel has been determined under the memorandum of understanding between Israel and the US…

US-Israel Relationship

US may leave UN Human Rights Council

A US source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the withdrawal appeared to be “imminent” but had no details.

Diplomatic sources said it was not a question of if but of when the United States retreats from the Human Rights Council, which is holding a three-week session through July 6.

A separate US official in Geneva had no…