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

Israeli startup lets users check vital signs by looking at their smartphones

Israeli startup Binah.ai says it has developed technology that turns smartphones into health monitoring devices that can check vital signs including heartrate, oxygen saturation and respiratory rate.
The new technology comes as medical care worldwide has been stretched thin by the pandemic and other, longer-term trends, spurring demand for...

In The News

Trust and partnership: Israel, UAE celebrate first year of normalization

On Aug. 13, 2020, an extraordinary event transformed the Middle East: Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a joint statement of intent to normalize diplomatic relations.

Formalized at the White House in September,  the historic Abraham Accords opened wide a door that seemed hopelessly shut between the two countries.

True, discreet...

In The News

Iran fires warning shot at US drone near Strait of Hormuz – report

Iranian air defenses fired a warning shot at a General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper belonging to the US military near the Strait of Hormuz near the Iranian border on Thursday, according to the Iranian semi-official Nour News.

The news outlet published what it said was footage of the control room as the warning shot was fired.

Independent news source...

Lapid inaugurates Israeli mission in Morocco as Herzog invites king to visit

At a small ceremony limited by COVID-19 restrictions, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid inaugurated Israel’s Liaison Office in Morocco’s capital Thursday morning, following last year’s agreement to reestablish ties after two decades.

Lapid was joined by Welfare Minister Meir Cohen, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee head Ram Ben Barak and...

Lapid lands in Morocco for first visit since Abraham Accords

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid landed in Morocco on Wednesday, the first visit of a senior Israeli official since diplomatic relations were reestablished last year.

Lapid met with Minister-Delegate to the Foreign Ministry Mohcine Jazouli after landing in Rabat for the two-day visit.

“I feel honored and privileged to thank the Kings of Morocco...

Israel said to warn CIA chief that new Iranian president is mentally disturbed

Israel hosted US Central Intelligence Agency chief William Burns Tuesday for talks focused on Iran, with Jerusalem reportedly attempting to deter any American rapprochement with Tehran by presenting Iran’s new president as a deranged misfit.
Officials gave no details of the agenda for the CIA chief’s talks in Israel, but the Walla news site...

In The News

Iran’s Raisi taps minister wanted for role in Buenos Aires Jewish Center bombing

Iran’s new president presented a cabinet dominated by hardliners on Wednesday, state TV reported, among them a foreign minister known for close ties to Hezbollah and an interior minister wanted by Interpol over his alleged role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires.
The conservative cleric and former judiciary chief...

Addis Ababa man battling heart defect gets second free treatment in Israel

A few months ago, Luleseged Kassa of Addis Ababa was devastated to learn that his heart, which had been saved by Israeli doctors when he was a teenager, had a major defect, untreatable in Ethiopia.
The Israeli charity Save a Child’s Heart flew him to Tel Aviv when he was 13, to replace two heart valves. But when he was 33, a leaflet in one of...

Hamas said to block UN team from inspecting school where tunnel was found

Hamas has prevented UN bomb disposal experts from inspecting a Palestinian refugee agency school in the Gaza Strip under which a tunnel dug by the terror group was uncovered during fighting in May, the Kan public broadcaster reported Tuesday.

The team was asked by the UN Relief and Works Agency to make sure that its Zaitoun Preparatory Boys’...

In The News

‘Delighted to be back in Israel’: Olympic champion Linoy Ashram welcomed as hero

With a gold medal dangling around her neck, Israeli Olympic champion Linoy Ashram was given a hero’s welcome Wednesday when she arrived back in Israel following the end of the Olympic Games in Tokyo earlier this week.
Ashram, who won the rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around event on Saturday, was received at the airport by hundreds of...

In The News

Explosion reported at Syria’s Latakia port on ship that may be Iranian

A major explosion occurred on a commercial ship docked at Syria’s Latakia port on Tuesday afternoon, according to Arabic-language media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
According to SOHR — a pro-Syrian opposition organization of uncertain funding based in the UK — the explosion “left casualties and caused considerable material...

Girl finds 1,500-year-old coin at Talmud-era Jewish village in northern Israel

An Israeli girl found a 1,500-year-old bronze coin at the site of an ancient Jewish village near the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel on Tuesday, the Nature and Parks Authority said.
The Yitzchaki family from the West Bank settlement of Har Bracha visited the Korazim archaeological park and played a scavenger hunt game involving the unique...

In The News

Bahrain envoy: Abraham Accords helped keep lid on Gaza war in May

Bahrain’s ambassador to the US said Monday that the Abraham Accords helped end the recent Gaza war and mitigate damage from the fighting.
“A couple months ago… we saw a true reflection of how the accords can bring about peace,” Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashid Al Khalifa said in a live interview organized by the ROPES civil society group.
Israel and...

In The News

Despite calm, Israeli town copes with scars of rocket fire

Just three months after the latest war between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, the border town of Sderot appears to be on the road to recovery.
The streets are bustling, and the town is filled with well-kept parks and playgrounds. The local real-estate market is booming.
But underneath the veneer of normalcy, the scars of years of...

In The News

20th Anniversary of Sbarro Terror Attacks Commemorated, Along With Demands for Extradition of Mastermind From Jordan

Jewish groups and Israeli and US officials marked the 20th anniversary on Monday of the infamous Palestinian terrorist bombing of the popular Sbarro pizza eatery in Jerusalem, with some calling on the US to demand extradition of one of its masterminds to face charges for the deaths of Americans killed in the attack.
The Hamas-orchestrated...

In The News

China hacks Israel, Iran, for info. on tech, business advances

China has hacked dozens of Israeli public and private sector groups as well as doing the same in Iran, Saudi Arabia and a variety of other countries, the international cybersecurity company FireEye announced Tuesday.

The massive cyber attack appears to be part of a long-term spying strategy in the area of technology and business competition and...

In The News

CIA chief set to arrive Tuesday in Israel for talks focused on Iran

The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, will arrive in Israel on Tuesday for talks expected to focus on Iran, according to Hebrew-language media reports.
Unnamed Israeli officials told the Walla news site that Burns is set to meet with Mossad chief David Barnea, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, and other security and...

Lebanon’s Maronite patriarch calls on army to handle Hezbollah

Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi called on Sunday for the Lebanese army to take control of the southern part of the country, Hezbollah's stronghold, and strictly implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701, after recent clashes between Israel and Hezbollah.
"We call upon the Lebanese army, which is responsible with the...

Israeli envoy slams UN chief for turning ‘blind eye to Hezbollah’s war crimes’

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan on Sunday lambasted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres over his response to flaring tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border, accusing him of turning a “blind eye to Hezbollah’s war crimes and acts of terror.”
On Friday, Iran-backed Hezbollah fired 19 missiles toward open areas in the north of Israel,...

Israel’s Incoming National Security Council Head Meets With Egyptian intelligence Chief in Cairo

Israel’s incoming National Security Chief (NSC) chief reportedly made a surprise trip to Cairo Sunday to meet with Egypt’s head of intelligence Abbas Kamel, according to a senior Israeli official, reported Israeli outlet Walla.

Eyal Hulata traveled to Egypt with outgoing NSC head Meir Ben-Shabbat with the main topic of conversation between the...