ISSUES

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

If you want to keep up with all things Israel, sign up for CUFI’s Daily Briefing – our daily news roundup created exclusively for CUFI members. Every morning, Monday through Friday, receive an email with some of the top headlines in the news so you are always informed and ready to debunk lies with the truth.

In The News

Gantz declares Israel can ‘seriously harm and delay’ Iranian nuclear program

Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Tuesday that Israel has the ability to cause serious damage to Iran’s nuclear program, and warned that reviving a 2015 pact with world powers to curb Iranian nuclear activities will only be a delaying tactic.

“Iran is a global problem. It is not just Israel’s private problem,” Gantz said during an interview at...

In The News

Saudi magazine showcases success of Israeli Arabs in IDF

A feature article in the Saudi monthly magazine Al-Majallah covered the topic of Israeli Arabs who serve in the Israel Defense Forces.

According to the lengthy essay by Kurdish-Swedish journalist and researcher Suzan Quitaz, who specializes in Israeli politics and the Gulf States region, more Muslim and Christian Arabs are enlisting in the IDF...

In The News

8 years later, fallen soldier’s family returns to Israel, now with deep connections

Exactly eight years after he was laid to rest in Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl, dozens of friends and loved ones gathered last Wednesday evening to commemorate Max Steinberg, an American lone soldier who fell in 2014 during Operation Protective Edge.

Near the familiar names of soldiers who died more recently, a canopy was erected and stools laid out,...

In The News

How the U.S.-Israel Partnership Is Tackling China | Opinion

When President Joe Biden traveled to the Middle East earlier this month, among his top priorities was shoring up the "special relationship" between the U.S. and Israel, which has frayed on his watch as a result of disagreements over America's policy toward Iran and its seeming disengagement from the unfolding normalization taking place between...

In The News

Federal probe opened into alleged antisemitism at University of Southern California

The US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights said Tuesday it has launched an investigation into alleged antisemitic harassment at the University of Southern California that a Jewish student government leader said forced her resignation in 2020.

The federal probe marked the latest in a series of legal battles over antisemitism at US...

In The News

Nasrallah: Hezbollah has all of Israel in its missile range -report

All of Israel is within the range of Hezbollah’s missiles, Lebanese Hezbollah terror leader Hassan Nasrallah said in an interview published Monday night.

“All land and sea targets of Israel are in the range of Hezbollah missiles,” the Hezbollah commander said. He also said that Hezbollah has created “active deterrence” against Israel.
...

In The News

Holocaust memorials in Buchenwald and Berlin vandalized in same week

In the same week, sets of unidentified individuals cut down trees planted to commemorate Holocaust victims near the former Nazi camp of Buchenwald in Germany and drew swastikas were onto one of the concrete slabs of Berlin’s Holocaust memorial.

Near Buchenwald, the perpetrators on Tuesday sawed off the tops of seven trees planted along a road...

In The News

Nazi flags, symbols displayed outside of Tampa Convention Center

TAMPA, Fla. — A group of antisemitic demonstrators outside of the Tampa Convention Center waved Nazi flags and posters on Saturday.

The Florida Holocaust Museum said people near the convention center were "appalled" the demonstrations occurred in Tampa, the museum told 10 Tampa Bay in an email.

"Openly and proudly displaying genocidal...

In The News

Iran’s satellite program is a growing threat – analysis

Iran intends to put another satellite into space, with the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) aiming to take a role in the project, Iranian media have reported.

The reports show that the IRGC is seeking to take more of a role and command of the space program, as it has military elements to it. According to reports, Iran doesn’t...

In The News

Israel eyes political repercussions should Russia shut down Jewish Agency

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid instructed the country’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday to prepare a series of political measures against Russia to be implemented in the event it liquidates the Russian branch of the Jewish Agency, a non-profit organization that promotes immigration to Israel.

Although Moscow gave no reason for shuttering the...

In The News

Iran nuke chief vows UN watchdog’s cameras will remain off until deal revived

The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said Monday that UN surveillance cameras installed at the country’s nuclear sites to monitor operations will remain off unless the defunct 2015 nuclear deal with world powers is revived.

Iran said it removed the cameras last months as talks to rescue the nuclear agreement faltered.

“We will not...

In The News

Report: IRGC missile engineer assassinated

A missile engineer serving in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was killed last week in an apparent assassination, Channel 12 News cited Iranian state media as confirming on Sunday.

The report noted that according to Iranian social media posts, Said Thamardar Mutlak was murdered in the southcentral Iranian city of Shiraz last week....

In The News

Israeli strike kills three soldiers in Syria, Syrian state media says

July 22 (Reuters) - An Israeli missile attack on Friday near Damascus killed three soldiers and wounded seven more, Syrian state media reported, in what a war monitor said was the 17th Israeli attack on Syrian territory this year.
The Israeli military said it does not comment on foreign reports.
Israel has been carrying out strikes for years...

In The News

Ukrainian Experts Turn to Israel for Mental Trauma Training

Ukrainian therapist Svitlana Kutsenko thought she was making progress with her patients — army veterans recovering from mental trauma suffered during fighting with Russia in 2014. Then, war erupted again.

Now, five months after Russia invaded Ukraine, Kutsenko says the situation looks bleaker than ever. Many of her patients have returned to the...

In The News

Iranian amb. to Azerbaijan tweets apparent threat against Israeli amb.

"Apparently, the FIRST Evil Zionist is going to be buried by the zealous people of Tabriz, too," tweeted the Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan.

Iran's ambassador to Azerbaijan, Abbas Mousavi, tweeted an apparent threat against Israel's ambassador to the country, George Deek, saying the ambassador would be "buried" by the people of Tabriz, a city...

In The News

Russia officially calls for Jewish Agency operations to be ‘dissolved’ — state media

Russian authorities officially called Thursday for the “dissolution” of the Jewish Agency’s offices in the country, filing an appeal to that effect with the district court in Moscow, according to a court spokesperson quoted by Russian media outlets.

This represents a significant step forward in Russia’s campaign against the Israeli...

In The News

A Paradoxical Moment for the Middle East

While Iran is a looming danger, the Abraham Accords offer hope and promise.

Blink and you might miss how rapidly the Middle East is changing. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiated by President Barack Obama, better known as the Iran nuclear deal, created heightened instability. But that deal, along with Obama’s desire to...

In The News

Israel Aerospace gets $200 mln European special aircraft deal

State-run Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) (ISRAI.UL) said on Thursday it signed a contract valued at more than $200 million to provide Special Mission Aircraft to a NATO member country in Europe.
The aircraft will be developed by ELTA Systems Ltd, IAI’s radar and intelligence technology subsidiary. The systems utilise miniaturised sensor...

In The News

Hezbollah threatens war over Lebanon-Israel maritime border dispute

With the U.S., Israeli and Lebanese governments hoping to finally reach a deal on the disputed Israel-Lebanon maritime border, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah again threatened war if Lebanon's "rights" in the Mediterranean aren't respected.

Why it matters: The dispute is focused on a potentially gas-rich, 330-square-mile area of the...

In The News

Israel watches warily as Russia, Iran build stronger ties

Underscoring the warming ties between the two countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Iran on Tuesday. This was the third time since the start of the year that Putin has met with his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi. Israel is closely watching the strengthening Russian-Iranian alliance.

“We really don’t know what the actual...