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

ISIS-inspired terrorists creating intelligence challenges in Israel

ISIS-inspired terrorists create significant challenges for intelligence agencies that make them harder to pick up, and Israeli security forces need to adopt new patterns of operation following back-to-back terror attacks, a former defense official has told JNS.

Col. (res.) David Hacham, a former Arab-affairs adviser to seven Israeli defense...

In The News

Bennett: ‘We are dealing with a new wave of terrorism’

The Israeli military has raised its level of alert and is preparing for a variety of violent scenarios and escalations following a spate of deadly attacks that claimed the lives of 11 Israeli in one week.

"The IDF is prepared for a variety of scenarios and will act to the extent necessary to maintain the routine of the lives of the residents of...

Issues

Senate committee advances Deborah Lipstadt as antisemitism monitor

Two Republicans joined the Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in approving Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt to be the State Department’s next antisemitism monitor on Tuesday, paving the way for her likely confirmation by the full Senate.

Marco Rubio of Florida and Mitt Romney of Utah joined the Democratic majority in a vote,...

Issues

Gantz meets Jordanian king in Amman to discuss tensions amid Ramadan

Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with Jordanian King Abdullah II in Amman on Tuesday to discuss concerns of spiraling violence amid the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, Gantz’s office said.

It was the third meeting between Abdullah and Gantz, with the first happening secretly in February 2021, and a second taking place publicly in January this...

Issues

‘A Privilege to Help in Their Hour of Need’: Israel Welcomes 10,000th Immigrant Since Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Sasha Zlobjn from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv became the 10,000th refugee to immigrate to Israel since the start of the Russian invasion last month, Israel’s Immigration and Absorption Ministry announced on Monday.

“I fled from Kharkiv with my grandmother and grandfather, but unfortunately my parents were left behind,” Zlobjn recounted upon...

Issues

68 Senators urge Blinken to help end UN inquiry on Israeli-Palestinian conflict

A large bipartisan group of 68 Senators sent a letter to US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, urging him to lead a multinational effort in the UN Human Rights Council and in the UN to end the permanent Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Rob Portman (R-OH) spearheaded the letter.
...

Issues

UAE, US, Israel launch religious coexistence and tolerance team

The US, United Arab Emirates and Israel launched a joint working team that will promote religious coexistence and tolerance on Tuesday, just a day after the Abraham Accords states met at the Negev Summit in Israel.

The team is led by Intelligence Minister Elazar Stern, Emirati Health Minister Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Owais and US Under...

Issues

12 ISIS supporters arrested in Arab towns after Hadera attack

12 ISIS supporters and members were arrested in the Wadi Ara area of northern Israel and in Nazareth on Monday night, after two terrorist attacks were carried out by ISIS-affiliated terrorists in Hadera and Beersheba in the past week.

Items which may serve as evidence of the suspects' affiliation with ISIS were seized by Border Police, Israel...

Issues

‘Paradigm-shaping’ Negev Summit participants search for ‘constructive way’ to confront Iran

A bright sun shone over the oasis-like Kedma resort hotel in Israel’s southern Negev Desert during what was dubbed the Negev Summit, hosted by Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and featuring U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and four Arab foreign ministers.

So successful was the summit that the ministers decided to make it a recurring...

Issues

US envoy to Iran says he ‘can’t be confident’ a new nuclear deal is ‘imminent’

U.S. special envoy to Iran Robert Malley appeared skeptical on Sunday about the prospects of a new nuclear deal being reached any time soon.
"I can’t be confident it’s imminent," Malley said at the Doha Forum in Qatar. "It’s not just around the corner and it’s not inevitable."
The remarks stood in contrast to Sayyid Kamal Kharrazi, a foreign...

In The News

Iowa governor signs antisemitism, Israel boycott bills

Iowa’s governor signed bills into law this week codifying a definition of antisemitism for the state and restricting state business with companies that boycott Israel.

One of the two bills signed by Republican Kim Reynolds on Wednesday calls for the state to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism in...

In The News

Announcing permanent regional forum, Israel, Arab states laud alliance, decry terror

At their historic summit in the Israeli Negev town of Sde Boker on Monday, the top diplomats of Israel, the US and four Arab nations announced that the conference would be the first iteration of a permanent regional forum, as they reaffirmed the importance of growing ties between Israel and the broader Middle East.

The foreign ministers of...

In The News

Hadera victims named as Border Police officers Yezen Falah and Shirel Abukarat

Police identified the two people killed in the Hadera terror attack as Border Police officers Yezen Falah and Shirel Abukarat, both 19, saying that the two officers saved many lives in the attack.

“The two officers died in battle this evening with armed terrorists,” the Border Police said in a statement after midnight Sunday, adding that three...

In The News

Terror in Hadera: Two Border Police officers killed in ISIS attack

Two Arab-Israeli terrorists who swore allegiance to ISIS shot and killed two Border Police officers and injured twelve others in Hadera on Sunday evening.

The two Border Police officers killed in the attack in Hadera Sunday were Yazan Fallah, 19, from Kasra Samia, and Shirel Aboukaret, 19, from Netanya.

Sheren Fallah Saab, a journalist at...

In The News

Israel’s field hospital in Ukraine – in pictures

With war still raging in Ukraine, Israel's first field hospital in the country, from the Sheba Medical Center, is there to help. Check out photos from the ground.
As the Ukraine-Russia war rounds off its first month of conflict, thousands of people have fled from the fighting across the country and seeking shelter, food and medical attention.
...

In The News

Archaeologist claims to find oldest Hebrew text in Israel, including the name of God

Archaeologist Dr. Scott Stripling and a team of international scholars held a press conference on Thursday in Houston, Texas, unveiling what he claims is the earliest proto-alphabetic Hebrew text — including the name of God, “YHWH” — ever discovered in ancient Israel. It was found at Mount Ebal, known from Deuteronomy 11:29 as a place of curses.
...

Issues

Blinken heads to Israel to talk with Bennett about halting Russia’s war

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will speak with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett about Israel's mediation efforts to end Russia's war against Ukraine when he visits the Jewish state starting Saturday as part of his Middle East trip that will include stops in Morocco and Algeria.

"We will be discussing Israel's efforts" to negotiate between...

In The News

Valentyna Veretska, Ukrainian refugee, wins women’s race at Jerusalem Marathon

A refugee from Ukraine who fled the country along with her daughter won the women’s race in Friday’s Jerusalem Marathon.

Valentyna Veretska, 32, finished the 26.2-mile (42.2-kilometer) race with a time of 2:45:54. Israeli Olympic athlete Ageze Guadie won the men’s race at 2:37:17.

Veretska’s husband is still in Ukraine, fighting against the...

Issues

IRGC chief threatens Israel, US with Iranian missiles

Iran's enemies, such as Israel and the United States, have an "expiration date" as a new world order is upon us, Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps commander-in-chief Maj.-Gen. Hossein Salami threatened on Wednesday, Iranian news outlet Tasnim reported.

Speaking in front of IRGC soldiers in Dezful, southwestern Iran, Salami issued a warning to...

Issues

US offering $1 million to report on Israeli human rights violations

The US State Department has offered a grant of up to $987,654 for projects that include reporting human rights violations by Israel, raising concern about the potential for abuse by organizations seeking boycotts, sanctions and international law tribunals against Israel.

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announced "an open...