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.

Antisemitism

Nevada Jewish Man Stabbed in Head by Man Shouting Antisemitic Slurs

A Jewish man leaving a Nevada bar was stabbed in the head by a man on the sidewalk outside who had asked him for money and then shouted antisemitic insults.

The alleged stabber raised his arm in a Nazi salute multiple times and said “Heil Hitler, you piece of (redacted)” before stabbing the man and walking away from the Tap Shack in Carson City...

Syria

Israeli Airstrikes Reported Against Iranian Sites in Syria, Killing 7

Suspected Israeli airstrikes late Tuesday in Syria killed at least seven people, including two Syrian soldiers and five pro-Iranian militia members, SANA and Britain-based watchdog said.

Two soldiers were killed and four others wounded in the strikes in the southern province of Sweida, a Syrian military source cited by state media said.

“Several...

Antisemitism

Jews and Other Minorities Subjected to Major Increase in Online Harassment in 2020, ADL Report Reveals

Online harassment of Jews and other minorities has increased sharply this year, a new survey by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) revealed on Tuesday.

“Individuals who are part of a marginalized group…reported being less safe online this year than in the past,” the report stated. “On the whole, online harassment related to a target’s protected...

Antisemitism

Winona Ryder Lost Movie Role for Looking ‘Too Jewish’

Jewish Actress Winona Ryder revealed that she was once overlooked for a movie role because she looked "too Jewish" for the part, in a recent interview with The Sunday Times.

“There are times when people have said, ‘Wait, you’re Jewish? But you’re so pretty!’ There was a movie that I was up for a long time ago, it was a period piece, and the...

In The News

Drone and Missile Attack Reported on Saudi Arabia

Explosions heard around the capital of Saudi Arabia were alleged to be a drone and missile attack in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The US embassy in Saudi Arabia confirmed media reports of “possible missile or drone” attacks that struck a building in Riyadh. Concerned that more were incoming, the US mission urged people to take precautions.
...

Holocaust

Construction Begins on First Public Monument to All Austria’s Holocaust Victims

Construction began on the first public monument naming all Austrian victims of the Holocaust on Monday. The monument will list all 64,259 Austrian Jews who lost their lives to Nazi atrocities, and is scheduled to be completed next spring.

Despite being the country where Adolf Hilter was born, Austria has long had issues confronting its...

Iran

Iran’s Other Nuclear Violations

The media barely noticed, but the world on Friday called out Iran for blocking nuclear inspections unrelated to President Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal. This problem will continue no matter who is the American President in 2021.

Iran has been a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons since 1970. As a signatory, the country...

Iran

Iran’s Currency Reaches Lowest Value Ever Against the Dollar

Iran’s currency on Monday dropped to its lowest value ever against the dollar and officials warned Iranian exporters to bring their foreign earnings home from abroad.
Money exchange shops briefly traded the Iranian rial 200,000 for a dollar and later in the day, the currency was valued at 198,000 rials against the dollar. The lows were a new...

In The News

Neo-Nazi in US Army Indicted For Conspiring to Have Unit Murdered by Jihadists

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) says a US Army private conspired to murder members of his unit in the hopes of starting a “10-year war” in the Middle East, an indictment unsealed in New York said on Monday.
Ethan Phelan Melzer, a 22-year-old who forged ties with neo-Nazis online, plotted online with someone he believed was connected to radical...

Medical Advancement

Israeli Company Helps US National Institutes of Health Fight Coronavirus

Israeli data company MDClone is supporting the US National Institutes of Health in the fight against the coronavirus crisis.

The Beersheba-based company, established four years ago, provides big-data solutions for healthcare systems and works with organizations in several countries, including Israel, the US and Canada.

As explained to The...

Archeology

Special Vessels Show Jewish Continuity in Israel After Roman Destruction

New research offers insights on how Jewish life continued in the Land of Israel after the destruction of the Temple and of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans.

The use of chalkstones vessels, very common among the Jewish population during the Second Temple Period, did not stop with the destruction of city in the second century CE as previously...

Iran

IDF Chief of Staff: Iran Now the Most Dangerous Country in the Region

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi warned on Sunday that “Iran has become the most dangerous country in the Middle East.”

Speaking at a ceremony at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv marking a change in the leadership of the IDF Planning Directorate, Kochavi said the threat Iran poses to the entire Middle East extends beyond its...

Hezbollah

Hezbollah: Our Precision Missiles Can Hit Anywhere in Israel

In a short video clip released on social media early Sunday morning, Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist organization Hezbollah claimed that it can hit any target in Israel with precision missiles.

In the video, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah can be heard saying: “Today, we can not only hit the city of Tel Aviv but also, if God wills it, and with his...

Turkey

Turkey’s Airstrikes in Northern Iraq Threaten Christian Villages

Civilians have been killed and villagers threatened by Turkey’s widespread airstrikes in northern Iraq. Ankara claims to be fighting “terrorists” but has used disproportionate force. Activists fear that Christian minorities, already threatened by Turkey’s invasions of northern Syria, will have to flee again.

The United States Commission on...

US-Israel Relationship

Israel-US Defense Tech Cooperation May Soon Get a Big Congressional Boost

A bipartisan effort is making its way through the US Congress that could see new support for Israel-US defense cooperation. It is a unique effort that now includes both a bill in the Senate called the United States-Israel Military Capability Act of 2020 and H.R. 7148 in the House of Representatives “to establish a US-Israel Operations-Technology...

In The News

Germany Doubles Pledge to Auschwitz-Birkenau Preservation Fund

Germany has increased its pledge towards a fund supporting the preservation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp, doubling the amount of 60 million euros the country had previously pledged in December, to 120 million euros. 

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas joined Piotr M.A. Cywinski, Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau...

Iran

UN Nuclear Watchdog Passes Resolution Criticizing Iran Over Lack of Access to Two Sites

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors has passed a resolution condemning Iran, AFP reported on Friday, citing diplomatic sources.
The resolution, first of the kind to pass since 2012, urges Iran to grant the IAEA access to two suspected nuclear sites to clarify whether undeclared activity took place there in the early...

Syria

Syrian Chemical Weapons Agency Sought Illicit WMD Tech in Germany

Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), an agency the US government says builds chemical weapons for the regime of Bashar Assad, made attempts last year to obtain illegal weapons of mass destruction technology in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

According to an eye-popping section reviewed by The Jerusalem Post in the new...

Holocaust

Portugal’s Parliament Recognizes Consul Who Saved Thousands From Nazis

Portugal’s parliament unanimously approved a bill last week to posthumously honor former Bordeaux Consul General Aristides de Sousa Mendes with a disembodied tomb at the National Pantheon. Mendes is credited with saving thousands of lives, including approximately 10,000 Jews, by directly disobeying orders and issuing thousands of visas to those...

Holocaust

Portugal Finally Recognizes Consul Who Saved Thousands From Holocaust

Eighty years ago, a middle-aged, mid-ranking diplomat sank into deep depression and watched his hair turn grey in days, as he saw the streets of Bordeaux filling with Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis.
As Portugal's consul in Bordeaux, Aristides de Sousa Mendes faced a moral dilemma. Should he obey government orders or listen to his own conscience...