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

IAI to open Boeing cargo jet conversion site with Etihad Group in UAE

Israel’s aerospace and aviation manufacturer IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries) has signed an agreement with the UAE’s Etihad Airways Engineering, the largest commercial aircraft maintenance provider in the Mideast, to establish a major facility in Abu Dhabi to convert Boeing 777-3000ER passenger planes into cargo aircraft.

In a press...

In The News

Gantz says world needs a ‘Plan B’ to the faltering Iran nuclear deal

Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Wednesday said the international community must find a “Plan B” to stop Iran from advancing toward a nuclear weapon, as the prospects of a return to a 2015 deal fade.

“Iran is only two months away from acquiring the materials necessary for a nuclear weapon,” Gantz warned some 60 foreign ambassadors and envoys at...

In The News

IDF beefs up deployment on Gaza border ahead of planned protests

The Israel Defense Forces sent additional troops to the Gaza border ahead of protests organized by Hamas planned for Wednesday, with the military facing rising tensions on the frontier, alongside growing criticism following a weekend border riot in which a soldier was shot and severely wounded.
Gazan terrorists continued to launch arson balloons...

In The News

As the US steps out of the Middle East, it must help Israel step up

When Israel’s new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett meets with President Joe Bidenthis week, Afghanistan’s collapse and U.S. efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal that Israel opposes will dominate the agenda. But the two leaders should also discuss the U.S.-Israel strategic partnership’s future — recognizing Israel’s emergence as one of the world’s...

In The News

Two former California police officers charged with painting swastika on car

The Los Angeles County District Attorney charged two former police officers with vandalism for allegedly spray-painting a swastika on the back seat of an impounded car.
The investigation into the vandalism also uncovered messages exchanged between the two former officers in Torrance, a city in Los Angeles County, and at least another 13 officers...

In The News

Historical marker honors Knoxville WWII hero who saved hundreds of Jewish soldiers

A new historical marker has been placed in downtown Knoxville honoring a man who risked his life to save hundreds of Jewish prisoners during World War Two.

The Knoxville Jewish Alliance as well as the city of Knoxville held a dedication ceremony Friday in honor of Sergeant Roddie Edmonds. U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett (TN-02), U.S. Senator Marsha...

In The News

Israel-based org to send private flights to evacuate activists from Kabul

Out of her home in the coastal Israeli town of Zichron Yaakov, Charmaine Hedding is working feverishly to help extract thousands of people desperate to leave Afghanistan.
Hedding is an emergency response specialist and president of the Shai Fund, a humanitarian organization based in Israel and registered in the US. She says her organization is...

In The News

Israeli jets strike Gaza following fires set by arson balloons

The Israel Defense Forces carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip late Monday night in response to the launching of arson balloons from the coastal enclave that set off at least nine fires in Israeli border communities earlier in the day, the army said.
The army said it hit a Hamas weapons factory in the southern town of Khan Younis, the...

In The News

The US shot down Iranian drone in Syria – report

A US warplane shot down a drone in Syria on Saturday. It is a rare occurrence when fighter jets are used to shoot down drones, although Israel has shot down drones with warplanes, and a US F-15E Strike Eagle shot down a drone in June 2017 in Syria, one of two US downings of Syrian regime drones.

The latest report was made by Reuters, Fox News...

In The News

Iran says it is expanding defense beyond borders, will continue missile program

The Iranian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that it was expanding its defense efforts beyond the borders of the country, in an apparent message of deterrence to Israel and the West, as hopes for a return to the 2015 nuclear deal continue to fade.
“Our country has an important role to play in strengthening the resistance front and expanding the...

In The News

US military completes first Iron Dome tests on American soil

American troops conducted their first test of the Iron Dome missile defense system in the United States earlier this summer, Israel’s Defense Ministry said Monday.
This was the first live fire trial, in which US soldiers shot down targets, including drones, with the Iron Dome, according to the ministry. Originally designed to intercept rockets,...

In The News

Moroccan king says he hopes ties with Israel will encourage regional peace

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has sent a letter to President Isaac Herzog, in which he expressed hope that renewed ties between the countries will encourage regional peace, the president’s office said on Friday.
In the letter, the king thanked Herzog for his letter, delivered by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid when the latter visited the country last...

In The News

Why Iran Will Welcome the Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan—“He travels with Iranian bodyguards,” a tribal elder and local police chief alleged about a Taliban commander from his home district of Shah Wali Kot.
“He has traveled back and forth from Iran for decades. He was previously a commander near Herat” during the Taliban rule over Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, the police...

In The News

Report: Investigators increasingly believe Jerusalem-area blaze caused by arson

Fire investigators are seeing growing evidence that the massive fire in the Jerusalem Hills this week was caused by arson, according to a report on Kan news.
The network said that investigators had found forensic evidence on the ground that may be tied to the cause of the blaze.
Meanwhile the Shin Bet security agency is assisting police in its...

In The News

Despite vowing ‘amnesty,’ Taliban said hunting for West’s allies house-to-house

The Taliban are going house-to-house searching for opponents and their families, according to an intelligence document for the United Nations that deepened fears on Friday that Afghanistan’s new rulers were reneging on pledges of tolerance.
After routing government forces and taking over Kabul on Sunday to end two decades of war, the hardline...

In The News

Israel accused of striking Syrian targets near Damascus

Syrian air defenses responded to an alleged Israeli airstrike targeting a site in the Qalamoun Mountains, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

Quoting a military source, SANA said that Israel launched airstrikes from the southeast of Lebanon’s capital Beirut “targeting some posts in the surroundings of Damascus and Homs.”

The statement...

In The News

Catastrophe in Afghanistan — for Afghans, Israel, the region… and for America

Like every national leader, the president of the United States has a prime obligation to safeguard the security and well-being of his citizens. And like his predecessor Donald Trump, President Joe Biden concluded that the presence of US troops and contractors in Afghanistan was having the opposite effect — that the American military deployment, as...

In The News

Gaza terror groups threaten ‘escalation’ as progress reported in Qatari aid deal

Palestinian factions in Gaza said on Wednesday that they were prepared to “escalate” hostilities against Israel unless restrictions on the enclave were loosened and announced a protest Saturday near the border fence.
“An explosion and escalation are inevitable if the status quo persists. The weak Zionist government must realize the price of its...

In The News

Counter-terrorism expert: ‘Taliban has alliances with Islamist forces in Syria’

Propaganda messaging by Al-Qaeda has risen dramatically in recent weeks, in line with the takeover of Afghanistan by Taliban fundamentalist forces, an Israeli counter-terrorist expert has warned.

Michael Barak, a senior researcher at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, who teaches courses on terrorism and Islamic radical movements,...

In The News

Biden and Israeli PM Set to Discuss Iran Strategy at Meeting Next Week

Stalled nuclear talks with Iran will be at the top of the agenda when US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett meet next week.
“The President and Prime Minister Bennett will discuss critical issues related to regional and global security, including Iran,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki in a statement...