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

Netanyahu praises Nikki Haley for strong defense of Israel at U.N.

Even before the UN passed a General Assembly condemning Israel for “excessive use of force” in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised US ambassador Nikki Haley for Wednesday night her spirited defense of Israel in the U.N. and her efforts to get an amendment to the resolution added that would condemn Hamas for violence.

“Israel…

US-Israel Relationship

UN to vote on resolution bashing Israel, with US pushing for Hamas condemnation

WASHINGTON — The United Nations General Assembly is slated to vote on a resolution Wednesday condemning Israel for Palestinian deaths in Gaza, a move fiercely opposed by the United States, which is pushing for Hamas to face condemnation.

The 193 nations that make up the world body will vote on an Arab-backed measure that deplores what it calls…

US-Israel Relationship

‘Vote to Condemn Hamas’: US Official Outlines New Tactic in Support of Israel at UN Security Council

On June 1, the UN Security Council found itself in the unprecedented position of having to vote on competing resolutions concerning the latest round of violence on the Israel-Gaza border.

Unprecedented, because for the first time, the council — the UN’s supreme body — was asked to vote on a draft, submitted by the United States, that condemned…

US-Israel Relationship

US envoy to reporters: ‘Keep your mouths shut’ on criticizing Israel over Gaza

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman attacked the media on Monday over what he said was a failure to fairly cover deadly protests on the Gaza border over the past months, advising reporters to “keep your mouths shut” unless they know better than Israel how to deal with the demonstrations.

Some criticism of Israel may be legitimate, Friedman…

US-Israel Relationship

UN ‘Hopelessly Biased Against Israel’ Says Haley, as US Vetoes Security Council Resolution on Gaza Violence

The majority of the 15 states on the UN Security Council were “willing to blame Israel, but unwilling to blame Hamas, for violence in Gaza,” the American Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said on Friday after the US vetoed a Kuwait-sponsored resolution that urged the deployment of an international force to the West Bank and Gaza.

“It is now…

US-Israel Relationship

Haley calls Security Council response to Gazan volleys ‘outrageous’

WASHINGTON — Nikki Haley, US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the UN, tore into the organization on Wednesday for what she characterized as a lackadaisical response to the firing of over 70 rockets on Israel from Gaza the day before.

Claiming a double standard, and questioning why Israeli military actions against Hamas, recognized as a…

US-Israel Relationship

Israel’s national security adviser on way to US to talk Iran policy with Bolton

Israel’s National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat left the country Monday on his was to the US for talks with his newly-appointed counterpart in Washington, John Bolton, set to cover policy towards Iran following US President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal.

The discussions will specifically focus on…

US-Israel Relationship

US pediatricians go to Kenya with IsraAID

Marking its first joint Israeli-American medical specialist mission, Israeli humanitarian aid organization IsraAID arranged for a delegation of American pediatricians to join IsraAID’s ongoing medical program in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.

According to IsraAID, Kakuma is one of the world’s oldest and largest refugee camps and is chronically…

US-Israel Relationship

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman: Liberal media sides with Hamas over Trump

This past Monday, the United States at long last opened its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem, Israel’s capital. The opening occurred 70 years to the day that Harry Truman led the United States to be the first nation to recognize Israel as a sovereign nation. The event, authorized and directed by President Trump, was a moving tribute to the enduring…

US-Israel Relationship

US Ambassador Haley: Israel acted with restraint

The United Nations Security Council met Tuesday afternoon for an emergency session regarding events at the Gaza border, following the deadliest day since Operation Protective Edge. Kuwait called for the UN Security Council meeting after 61 Palestinians were killed and more than 1,200 wounded. The IDF said 24 of those killed were terrorists.

US…

US-Israel Relationship

‘You have made history’: Netanyahu hails Trump at Jerusalem embassy opening

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday praised Donald Trump for “making history by recognizing history” at a ceremony dedicating the new US embassy in Jerusalem, while President Reuven Rivlin thanked the US president for “keeping his promise.”

“What a glorious day,” Netanyahu told the crowd at the new embassy building in the Jerusalem…

US-Israel Relationship

US asks UN Security Council to reject ‘vile’ Abbas Holocaust remarks

UNITED NATION — The United States on Friday asked the UN Security Council to reject the “unacceptable” and “deeply disturbing” remarks by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas about the Holocaust that included “vile anti-Semitic slurs.”

Abbas apologized over the remarks delivered in an address to the Palestinian National Council, but a US-drafted…

US-Israel Relationship

Mattis, receiving Liberman, warns of ‘likely’ conflict between Israel and Iran

WASHINGTON —  Direct conflict between Israeli and Iranian forces is increasingly likely in Syria as Tehran pursues a permanent military presence there, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis warned on Thursday.

Addressing a congressional panel before hosting his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Liberman, at the Pentagon, Mattis said it was “very…

US-Israel Relationship

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to meet PM Netanyahu for talks on Iran

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will arrive in Israel on Sunday to talk with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran’s regional aggression and the nuclear deal with Tehran.

The former CIA director, who was sworn in as Rex Tillerson’s replacement on Thursday, left immediately for a Friday meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

He landed…

US-Israel Relationship

Pompeo heads to Israel, Mideast, Europe after taking oath

Newly sworn in US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will head from this week’s NATO meeting in Brussels directly on to high-level talks in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, his spokeswoman said Thursday.

Speaking on the tarmac of Joint Base Andrews in front of the secretary’s government jet as he arrived from his Supreme Court swearing in, Heather…

US-Israel Relationship

On 70th anniversary, Trump says US has ‘no better friends anywhere’ than Israel

WASHINGTON — The United States has “no better friends anywhere” than Israel, US President Donald Trump said Wednesday while congratulating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israelis on the country’s 70th anniversary.

“Best wishes to Prime Minister @Netanyahu and all of the people of Israel on the 70th Anniversary of your Great…

US-Israel Relationship

READ: President Trump’s statement for Holocaust Remembrance Day

 

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 11, 2018
Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust, 2018

– – – – – – –

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation
 

On Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, and during this week of remembrance, we reflect on one of the…

US-Israel Relationship

US blocks UN resolution condemning Israel for deaths in Gaza clashes

The United States on Saturday blocked a draft UN Security Council statement urging restraint and calling for an investigation of clashes on the Gaza-Israel border, diplomats said.

Kuwait, which represents Arab countries on the council, presented the proposed statement, which called for an “independent and transparent investigation” of the…