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

Israel’s ahead-of-the-world vaccine rollout offers hope for countries lagging behind

02/28/2021

JERUSALEM — Israel's fastest-in-the world vaccine campaign, which reached half its citizens as of Sunday, is offering other countries the first real-life look at how mass inoculation can bend the trajectory of the coronavirus pandemic.

A rush of Israeli medical research — some emerging too fast for academic journals to keep up —...

In The News

Celebrating 3 years since the Taylor Force Act

03/18/2021

For decades, the Palestinian Authority has offered a “Pay for Slay” pension fund program for anyone killed or captured by the IDF for terrorism that results in the murder of Israeli citizens. The life-long salary is paid to the terrorist if he or she goes to prison, or to their surviving family if the terrorist is killed. This...

In The News

Pro-Israel group launches six-figure ad buy urging Manchin to vote no on Colin Kahl

03/19/2021

The nation’s largest pro-Israel advocacy group is launching a six-figure TV and digital ad campaign against Pentagon nominee Colin Kahl in West Virginia, calling on Democratic senator Joe Manchin to oppose the nomination due to Kahl’s positions on Israel and Iran.

Christians United for Israel said its TV ads will hit West Virginia...

In The News

Israeli, Austrian presidents attend Holocaust remembrance ceremony in Vienna

03/18/2021

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen participated in a Holocaust-remembrance ceremony in Vienna on Wednesday.

The ceremony, held at the city’s monument to Holocaust victims in Judenplatz, was attended by local residents, Holocaust survivors and members of the Vienna Jewish community. The...

In The News

Upgraded Iron Dome Defeats Drones & Rockets In Test

03/17/2021

TEL AVIV: The Israeli Iron Dome tested out its latest upgrades in recent tests, taking out every target in a mixed swarm of drones and rockets.

The new upgrades will be rapidly installed on existing Israeli units at the border and on two Iron Dome batteries sold to the US Army.

The threat scenarios, with multiple simultaneous...

In The News

D.C. foreign policy elites rush to shore up faltering Pentagon nomination

03/16/2021

A group of Obama-era foreign policy elites and Washington lobbyists are organizing a letter to shore up Biden Pentagon nominee Colin Kahl, accusing pro-Israel activists in West Virginia of engaging in a "disgusting smear campaign," according to email correspondence obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The diplomat Martin...

Israeli Technology

3 tiny Israeli satellites to orbit earth on just 1 gram of fuel a day

03/16/2021

Israeli scientists are preparing to launch a trio of tiny satellites that will hurtle around earth every 90 minutes, using a total of just 1 gram of fuel per day.

The shoebox-sized nanosatellites will leave Earth from Kazakhstan aboard a Russian rocket at midday local time on Saturday, and will be launched from the rocket four...

US-Israel Relationship

Israel-US to set up joint team to share intel on Iran’s nuclear program

03/17/2021

Israeli and US officials agreed to set up a joint team for sharing intelligence about Iran’s nuclear program during recent strategic talks, according to a report Wednesday.

Last week’s talks were the first held by a bilateral group for cooperating in the effort to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear arms. The meeting was led by US...

US-Israel Relationship

Israeli president said to be invited to address joint session of US Congress

03/17/2021

President Reuven Rivlin is considering whether to accept a bipartisan invitation to address a joint session of US Congress, the Ynet news site reports.

The report notes it is unclear whether Congress can fully convene before Rivlin ends his term as president in July due to coronavirus restrictions.

The president is currently in...

In The News

Israel among world’s biggest arms exporters, counts up to 90 nuclear weapons: report

03/16/2021

Israel is ranked among the world’s top ten arms exporters during the past five years and has an estimated 90 operational nuclear weapons, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published Monday.

The report said Israel was the eighth largest arms exporter during the 2016–2020 period....

In The News

Rocket Exchange With Gaza Signals Israel Won’t Hesitate to Act Despite Coronavirus Crisis

02/24/2020

The Israel Defense Forces fired on Hamas military positions in the northern Gaza Strip after a rocket was fired into Israel just after 9 P.M. Friday.

The Israeli strikes were meant to send the message that Israel would not hesitate to act despite the coronavirus crisis and would not tolerate any attempt to drag the region into a...

In The News

Israeli UN Ambassador Danon: Palestinians getting coronavirus aid from Israel respond with outrageous claims

04/22/2020
Israel has gone to great lengths and donated generously to protect Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip from the coronavirus pandemic, but our lifesaving assistance has been greeted by Palestinians spreading lies and inciting hatred against Israel and the Jewish people.
The Palestinian Authority that governs much of the...

Hamas

Why is the Gaza Strip calm these days? Hamas knows the answer

03/10/2020

The recent relative calm on Israel's southern border is a result of progress in talks between Hamas and Israel, senior Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip said Tuesday.

The officials also noted that the novel coronavirus outbreak, as well as the political processes that have followed the March 2 Knesset election, are also factors.
...

In The News

Israel loans PA money, FM warns against Palestinian COVID-19 crisis

04/16/2020

Israel loaned money to the Palestinian Authority to help avert a COVID-19economic and humanitarian crisis.

“The situation with in the West Bank worries us all and could cause a humanitarian crisis,” Finance Minister Moshe Khalon (Likud) said on Thursday after he met with President Reuven Rivlin and UN Special Coordinator to the...

US-Israel Relationship

COVID-19 and the Need for Enhanced U.S.-Israel Technology Cooperation

04/17/2020
As its strategy to address the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, continues to develop, the United States should not overlook the important role that its most scientifically advanced international allies could play in helping both to mitigate the pandemic’s devastating consequences and, ultimately, defeat it. Among those partners, few may...

In The News

Spy Agency’s Phone Surveillance Detected a Third of Israel’s Covid-19 Cases

05/26/2020

Spying by Israel's Security Agency, better known as the Shin Bet, was responsible for the early discovery of around a third of all the verified coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in the country, according to a report by the Ministry of Health submitted to the Parliament’s Subcommittee of Secret Services seen exclusively by Calcalist.

As...

In The News

Eugene Kontorovich: To fight coronavirus spread, Israel is using cellphone technology – Could US do the same?

03/19/2020
Israel’s government this week approved the use of people’s cellphone location information to help battle the coronavirus epidemic – the strongest such action of any Western country.
This has raised serious – and legitimate – concerns about privacy and governmental intrusion in the form of unseen surveillance. Placing such sweeping...

In The News

Ahead of Biden’s Pentagon nominee’s confirmation, CUFI calls on Joe Manchin to oppose

03/17/2021

WASHINGTON - Christians United for Israel (CUFI), published a full-page ad in six West Virginia newspapers this week, urging state residents to contact Senator Joe Manchin and ask him to oppose the nomination of Colin Kahl to serve as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. 

The ads feature an op-ed from CUFI’s West Virginia State...

Syria

Israel launches strike on targets in Syria – report

03/16/2021
Israeli military strikes were reportedly launched at targets located near the Syrian capital of Damascus, state media said late Tuesday night.
It remains unclear if any casualties resulted in the reported attack.
Israel maintains a policy of ambiguity regarding regional military operations and has not commented on the development....

In The News

Israel’s Iron Dome simultaneously intercepts drones, rockets in hi-tech leap

03/16/2021

After significant upgrades, Israel’s famed Iron Dome missile-defense system successfully and simultaneously intercepted a barrage of rockets and drones in a recent round of tests.

The news comes as the IDF warns of a possible new confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon, where the Iranian-backed terrorist group is constantly...