ISSUES

At CUFI, we are focused on several key issues with the goal of defending Israel’s strength, security, and sovereignty.

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Issues

Hamas says clip of Israeli captive Mengistu is recent; Israel still unsure it’s real

Terror group says prisoners will only be released if Israel pays ‘decent price;’ IDF spokesperson pans ‘unethical’ behavior in publishing video, declines to authenticate it
The Hamas terror group said Tuesday that a video it released the day before, purportedly of captive Israeli civilian Avera Mengistu, was filmed recently, while Israel publicly...

Issues

Iran’s FM says talks with Saudis could restore relations

Speaking in Lebanon, Hossein Amirabdollahian says he met Saudi counterpart last month in highest level talks in seven years
BEIRUT — Talks between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia are continuing and could eventually restore diplomatic relations that were severed years ago, Iran’s foreign minister said Friday.

Hossein Amirabdollahian told...

Issues

Battling kids’ eye cancer in Nigeria, Israeli doctors introduce pinpointed chemo

Week-long mission from Sheba Medical Center aims to teach local doctors to perform the complex procedure that spares patients the side effects of full body radiation
Israeli doctors on a week-long humanitarian mission to Nigeria said Friday that they had introduced pinpointed chemotherapy, in a move expected to have widespread benefits in...

Issues

Jewish leaders: Anti-Israel TikToks poisoning minds of millions

TikTok is being flooded with anti-Israeli videos, mainly produced by pro-Palestinian groups — and Jewish leaders say they’re poisoning the minds of the millions of young adults who get their news from the Chinese-owned platform.

“TikTok is wildly popular, short and to the point, and a brilliant marketing tool,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon...

Issues

100 EU Parliamentarians Sign Letter Calling for Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Terrorist Designation

More than 100 members of the European Parliament on Wednesday signed a letter calling for the European Union to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in its entirety as a terrorist organization, as world powers continue to ratchet up rhetoric against the Iranian regime.

The letter, sent to the EU High Representative for Foreign...

Issues

Netanyahu Says Will Fight ‘Any Attempt’ by Iran to Set Up Base on Israel’s Border

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday evening that Israel would fight any Iranian attempt to set up a military base on Israel’s northern border with Syria and Lebanon.
The statement was made during Netanyahu’s tour of the Northern Command, where he received a situational assessment along with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant....

Issues

Written records of biblical King David discovered by researchers

The stele was discovered in fragments in 1868 roughly 15 miles east of the Dead Sea and currently resides in the Louvre museum in Paris.
The Mesha Stele, also called the Moabite Stone, is a basalt stone slab that has provided historians and linguists with the largest source of the Moabite language to date. Researchers have only now been able to...

Issues

ADL: Number of Americans believing antisemitic stereotypes nearly doubled since 2019

Poll finds that 85% of people in US agree with at least one racist trope about Jews, while 20% believe at last six; 20% think Jews have ‘too much power’
The number of Americans who believe antisemitic stereotypes has doubled since 2019 to the highest level in decades, the Anti-Defamation League said Thursday, calling the findings “stunning and...

Issues

Senior PLO official: ‘Martyrs’ and prisoners are ‘most precious jewel’ for Palestinians

"Even if we have one penny left, it will be spent on the families of the martyrs and prisoners," said PLO Executive Committee Secretary-General Hussein Al-Sheikh at a ceremony celebrating Palestinian Martyr's Day on Jan. 7.
The Palestinian “martyrs” and prisoners, as well as their families, are the Palestinian people’s “most precious jewel,” PLO...

Issues

UK probing uranium bound for Iranians in Britain

Authorities have not ruled out the possibility that the uranium could have been used to build a so-called dirty bomb, a type of improvised nuclear device, according to reports.
(January 11, 2023 / JNS) British counter-terrorism forces have opened an investigation after confiscating an undeclared shipment of uranium at Heathrow airport on Dec. 29...

Issues

Ancient Byzantine church with preserved mosaic floor found near Jericho

Archaeologists working with the Civil Administration have been excavating the well-preserved mosaic flooring of what was once a large church in Israel's West Bank.
An ancient Byzantine church with large and preserved mosaic floors was discovered by the Civil Administration near the city of Jericho in Israel's West Bank, the Civil Administration...

Issues

Report: Iran steps up air defense deployment in Syria in bid to curb Israeli strikes

Unnamed intelligence source tells Newsweek that Israel has struck at least seven targets related to the network over the past two years, and killed 10 Iranians
Iran has invested millions of dollars in an effort to ramp up the deployment of an advanced air defense network in Syria, amid repeated attempts by Israel to target Iranian sites and...

Issues

West Bank: Stabbing in Hebron leaves one wounded, assailant shot – report

A 25-year-old man was reportedly stabbed in the Hebron Hills in the southern West Bank on Wednesday before the assailant was shot by Israeli forces.

"When we arrived at the scene, we saw that the wounded man was fully conscious and suffering from bleeding injuries to his upper body," Eliashiv Ameti, a paramedic for Israel's Magen David Adom...

Issues

US Navy intercepts over 2,000 assault rifles headed from Iran to Yemen

This is the third shipment of lethal aid from Iran to Yemen intercepted by the US in the past two months.
The US Navy intercepted over 2,000 assault rifles being carried on a fishing vessel from Iran to Yemen on January 6, the US 5th Fleet announced on Tuesday.

A US Navy team from the USS Chinook patrol coastal ship discovered and seized the...

Issues

Dermer in Washington for meetings on Iran nuke program

The Israeli strategic affairs minister is the first official from Israel’s new government to visit the U.S. • Israel and the U.S. agree that Iran must not acquire nuclear weapons, but have “some tactical differences,” says U.S. State Dept.
(January 10, 2023 / JNS) Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer landed in Washington on Monday...

Issues

Police data shows antisemitic incidents in NYC more than doubled over last 2 years

City saw 263 attacks in 2022, or one every 33 hours on average; $11,000 offered for info on suspect who shouted ‘Kanye 2024’ during assault; Hasidic man rammed with car in Brooklyn
NEW YORK — There were over 250 antisemitic hate crimes reported to authorities in New York City last year, marking a steep rise in incidents targeting Jews over the...

Issues

Lion’s Den member nabbed by troops in Nablus; 15 more suspects arrested in West Bank

Wasim Estitiyeh wanted for recent shooting attacks in northern West Bank; Palestinian gunmen attempt to target troops during operation
Israeli troops on Tuesday morning detained a member of the Lion’s Den terror group in the West Bank city of Nablus as local gunmen attempted to target the forces, the military said.

The arrest came amid a...

Issues

Israeli Forces Thwart Smuggling of 32 Handguns Near Jordanian Border

Israeli Forces Thwart Smuggling of 32 Handguns Near Jordanian Border

Israeli forces confiscated 22 handguns after busting a smuggling attempt in the Jordan Valley on Sunday, days after seizing 10 other firearms along the border.

IDF soldiers noticed the suspect near the town of Yafit in the West Bank, and apprehended him while he was...

Issues

Blinken to visit Israel amid tension over anti-PA sanctions

Blinken’s visit will come on the heels of a scheduled trip to the region by President Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel by the end of January for talks with the new government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid tension over the Temple Mount, Israeli sanctions...

Issues

Iranian protesters demonstrate at prison as 3 are sentenced to death

The threatened executions come just a day after two other Iranian protesters were executed by the Iranian regime.
Iran's judiciary sentenced three more anti-government protesters to death on charges of "waging war on God," the Mizan news agency reported on Monday, defying growing international criticism over its fierce crackdown on demonstrators....