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.

Hamas wins Palestinian hearts as Gaza conflict threatens broader shift

JERUSALEM — Hamas may be an international pariah, branded as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and Israel, but the militant group has succeeded in winning the admiration and respect of Palestinians in the wake of the recent 11-day war with Israel.
Hamas framed its role in the fighting, which caused widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip, as...

U.S. Airstrikes Target Iran-Backed Militia Sites In Iraq And Syria

The U.S. military conducted airstrikes on three targets in Syria and Iraq that the Pentagon said were used by Iranian-backed militias in the area.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in an announcement Sunday that the selected targets were weapons storage and operational facilities used by the militias to mount unmanned aerial vehicle...

Is the US ready to rescind Golan sovereignty recognition?

It only took only one speculative report in the Washington Free Beacon about the potential intention of the Biden administration to rescind US recognition of the Golan Heights for the Israeli media to announced it as a fact.

Both Army Radio and Channel 12 ran headlines on the Beacon article, which was titled "Biden Admin Walks Back U.S....

Recent antisemitic attacks spur warning from Pittsburgh Jewish organization

A Squirrel Hill resident was hospitalized with broken bones after being attacked in what the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh says is one of recent antisemitic attacks against the Jewish community.

The attacks have prompted the federation to warn its members to “be vigilant” but to continue going about their daily activities.

So far...

US Military Linguist Given 23-Year Sentence for Passing Intel on American Assets to Hezbollah

A Minnesota woman has received a 23-year prison sentence for handing classified defense information to a Lebanese man who conveyed it to Hezbollah, which the US has designated a terror organization.

A Wednesday press release from the US Justice Department said that Mariam Taha Thompson, 62, who was born in Lebanon and lived in Rochester,...

‘Get out Abbas’: Thousands protest at funeral of activist who died in PA custody

Thousands marched through the streets of Hebron on Friday at the funeral of a Palestinian Authority critic who died in PA custody, with many calling for the end of President Mahmoud Abbas’s 16-year rule.
Nizar Banat, a prominent critic of the PA known for his biting videos on social media, died on Thursday after being arrested by officers in the...

Israel slams new Polish Holocaust law as ‘immoral’ and ‘a disgrace’

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called new Polish legislation that would bar Holocaust restitution claims in the country “immoral” and suggested it would damage Polish-Israeli ties.

“No law will change history,” said Lapid on Thursday, saying the bill “is a disgrace that will not erase the horrors or the memory of the Holocaust.”

The...

Blinken: Return to Iran deal could be ‘very hard’ if talks drag on

PARIS — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday warned Iran that the United States could eventually give up on rejoining a nuclear deal if talks in Vienna drag on.
“There will come a point, yes, where it will be very hard to return back to the standards set by the JCPOA,” Blinken told reporters in Paris, referring to the 2015 nuclear...

At Lebanon war memorial, Gantz says next conflicts likely to need ground troops

Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned on Thursday that future military conflicts are likely to involve Israeli ground troops.
Speaking at a memorial ceremony at Mount Herzl marking 15 years since the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War, Gantz proclaimed that the IDF is “prepared to engage our full capacity.”
“In future campaigns, or, God forbid, in...

Critic of Palestinian Authority dies after violent arrest

JERUSALEM (AP) — An outspoken critic of the Palestinian Authority who was a candidate in parliamentary elections called off earlier this year died after Palestinian security forces arrested him and beat him with an iron rod on Thursday, his family said.
Nizar Banat was a harsh critic of the PA, which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West...

US set to delay next round of Iran talks to hear new Israeli position

The US is seeking to extend the time between rounds of indirect nuclear talks with Iran, in order to talk to the new Israeli government more about its position.

Washington feels that the negotiations to return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal are worth delaying in order to better cooperate with Israel, a source with knowledge of the US President...

After Kohavi meeting, US reaffirms commitment to not let Iran get nukes

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi that US President Joe Biden has a “commitment to ensuring that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon,” according to the White House.

Sullivan and Kohavi met in Washington on Wednesday alongside Israeli Ambassador to the US and UN Gilad Erdan and discussed “the challenges...

Honduran president meets Bennett before inauguration of Jerusalem embassy

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández meets with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at his office in Jerusalem before attending the dedication of the Honduran Embassy in the capital.

“You will be recorded in the pages of history as having done a brave and correct deed for the State of Israel,” Bennett tells Hernández.”

In September 2020,...

Attack on Iranian nuclear site damaged centrifuge production facility – reports

The target of an attack in Karaj reported by Iranian media on Wednesday was a factory producing aluminum blades for uranium-enrichment centrifuges, according to Israel’s Channel 13.
Contrary to the Iranian reports, which said that the “sabotage attempt” near Tehran had been thwarted and resulted in no casualties or damage, Israel’s Channel 13...

Pentagon tracked failed Iranian satellite launch and new images reveal Tehran is set to try again

The Pentagon was watching as Iran attempted, and failed, to launch yet another satellite into orbit earlier this month, multiple defense officials tell CNN.

But while that previous effort, which took place in mid-June, was unsuccessful, Iran appears to be preparing for another attempt in the near future, as satellite imagery captured by...

Bipartisan lawmakers introduce bill targeting Hamas financing, citing bitcoin donations

A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday aimed at further cutting off funds for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the U.S.-designated terrorist organization that runs the Gaza Strip.
The bill, introduced by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Brian Mast (R-Fl.), cites a rise in bitcoin donations to the terrorist group...

40 years after Iraq reactor raid, IDF reveals Ilan Ramon’s fears, intel sketches

The IDF Archive on Tuesday published a host of documents related to the bombing of Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor 40 years ago, including sketches of the site and a 2001 clip, in which fighter pilot and doomed astronaut Ilan Ramon spoke about the inspiration he drew from his Holocaust survivor mother before heading out in an F-16A jet.
The rare...

In Holon, a global gaggle of child heart patients get life-saving treatment

Over 30 children and teens from seven countries, the West Bank and Gaza are being treated near Tel Aviv for life-threatening heart conditions, the largest group of patients brought to Israel in over a year by a charitable medical organization that says it has saved thousands of lives over the last quarter century.
The children range in ages from...

Pentagon tracked failed Iranian satellite launch and new images reveal Tehran is set to try again

The Pentagon was watching as Iran attempted, and failed, to launch yet another satellite into orbit earlier this month, multiple defense officials tell CNN.

But while that previous effort, which took place in mid-June, was unsuccessful, Iran appears to be preparing for another attempt in the near future, as satellite imagery captured by...

Shin Bet reports dramatic increase in West Bank attacks on Israelis

A month after Operation Guardian of the Walls, the IDF continues to struggle to maintain calm in the West Bank. With Israel’s attention focused on the Gaza Strip, the flames of violence in the West Bank are at risk of exploding.

According to data released by the Shin Bet,  there were 592 attacks in the West Bank and another 178 in Jerusalem in...