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

With 0.1% positivity rate, Israel records lowest COVID cases since start of pandemic

05/02/2021
Israel's Health Ministry said on Sunday that only 13 new cases of the coronavirus were identified on Saturday, out of 9,236 tests carried out.
These results resulted in a positivity rate of 0.1 percent, a record-low number since the start of the pandemic last March.
According to the ministry's latest toll, there are currently 102...

In The News

Two Israelis critically hurt in shooting, IDF searches for attacker

05/02/2021

Three Israelis in their 20s were injured on Sunday evening in a shooting incident at the Tapuah Junction in the Samaria region of the West Bank.

The incident occurred near a bus stop and hitch-hiking post at the junction. Two of the victims were rendered unconscious and were critically and seriously injured, while one suffered...

Iran

Biden’s $90 Billion Bailout to Iran

05/01/2021

Rushing back into the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also called the Iran nuclear deal, would be a singularly seismic event leading to chaos and instability in the Middle East.

U.S. President Joe Biden has inherited a relatively peaceful Middle East—not without its challenges—but one marked by historic peace...

In The News

U.S. Navy fires warning shots at Iranian gunboats in Persian Gulf

04/27/2021
The U.S. Navy fired warning shots at Iranian military boats in the northern Persian Gulf on Monday, the first such escalation in nearly four years, the Pentagon announced.
The incident marks the second known occurrence this month of Iranian vessels harassing U.S. ships, after a group of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy...

In The News

Attempted stabbing attack in West Bank, suspect ‘neutralized’

04/20/2021
The suspect attempted to stab a police officer and IDF soldier at Efrat Junction with a 'sharp object'

A suspected terrorist was shot and wounded in the West Bank settlement of Efrat following an attempted stabbing attack, Hebrew media reported on Friday.
The suspect was reportedly "neutralized" before injuring any...

In The News

EU Parliament passes resolution censuring UNRWA for teaching hate in schools

04/29/2021

The European Union Parliament passed a resolution on Wednesday that targeted the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) for teaching “hate speech and violence” in its schools.

The resolution demanded that hateful material be “removed immediately” from UNRWA-run schools and insisted that E.U....

In The News

45 crushed to death, over 150 hurt in stampede at mass Lag B’Omer event in Meron

04/29/2021

At least 45 people were crushed to death and more than 150 people hurt, including many in critical condition, in a stampede after midnight Thursday at a mass gathering to celebrate the Lag B’Omer holiday at Mount Meron, medics said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident “a terrible disaster,” promised a thorough...

Iran

Iran rattled as Israel repeatedly strikes key targets

04/22/2021
In less than nine months, an assassin on a motorbike fatally shot an Al Qaeda commander given refuge in Tehran, Iran’s chief nuclear scientist was machine-gunned on a country road, and two separate, mysterious explosions rocked a key Iranian nuclear facility in the desert, striking the heart of the country’s efforts to enrich uranium....

In The News

Israel’s warplanes can reach Iran, minister warns amid nuclear talks

04/29/2021

JERUSALEM - An Israeli cabinet minister sharpened his country's warnings against what it would deem a bad new nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, saying war with Tehran would be sure to follow.

As President Joe Biden explores a possible US return to the 2015 deal to contain Iran's nuclear program that his predecessor...

In The News

Idaho, West Virginia enact anti-BDS law; Alabama furthers Holocaust education

04/29/2021

The governors of Idaho and West Virginia signed into law this week anti-BDS legislation, while the Alabama State Senate passed a resolution promoting Holocaust education.

Idaho’s Anti-Boycott Against Israel Act, signed by Gov. Brad Little, said a public entity in the state may not enter into a large-scale contract with a company...

Antisemitism

Two years since Poway: Antisemitism steadily grows

04/28/2021

On April 27th, 2019, on the last day of Passover, a gunman entered the Chabad of Poway synagogue and opened fire, killing one and wounding three. This heartbreaking and sickening event occurred exactly six months after the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre in which 11 people were killed and six injured in the deadliest attack against...

In The News

Israel places 4th in world COVID resilience ranking

04/27/2021
Israel has climbed to fourth place among the most resilient countries facing the COVID-19 health crisis, according to a report released by Bloomberg News on Tuesday.
The ranking was introduced in November 2020 to track how the world's most dynamic economies are coping with the pandemic.
Israel has steadily climbed the rankings, which...

In The News

US rejects Human Rights Watch’s ‘Israeli apartheid’ claim

04/29/2021
State Department spokesperson says Israel's actions are not apartheid

The United States on Wednesday rejected a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report accusing Israel of "committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution" against Palestinians under control of the Israeli government.
“It is not the view of this...

In The News

Israeli ambassador insists country won’t be bound by Iran deal

04/29/2021

After US President Joe Biden made only brief mention of Iran’s nuclear program during his first speech to Congress, Israel’s Ambassador to the US Gilad Erdan said Thursday that Jerusalem will not allow its security to be dependent on or bound by an international agreement that it is not a party to.

Erdan’s comments came hours...

US-Israel Relationship

US, Israel to collaborate on countering Iranian drone, missile threat

04/28/2021
National security advisors discuss Iranian threat as nuclear talks continue in Vienna

The United States and Israel have agreed to set up an inter-agency working group focused on the increasing regional threat posed by Iranian-produced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Precision Guided Missiles, the White House said on Tuesday....

In The News

Gaza terrorists fire 2 mortar shells toward Israel

04/28/2021

Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired two mortar shells toward Israel after midnight Tuesday, with both projectiles falling inside the coastal enclave, the Israel Defense Forces said.

There were no reports of injuries or damage.

The launches triggered warning sirens in Israeli communities near Kissufim and came after a...

Iran

U.S. Navy ship fires warning shots after Iranian boats come close

04/27/2021
WASHINGTON — A U.S. Navy ship fired warning shots near three Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps boats in the Persian Gulf after the vessels approached at close range and ignored repeated appeals to pull back, the Navy said Tuesday.
It was the second tense encounter at sea in less than a month, after about a year of no such incidents,...

In The News

Documentary ‘Never Again?’ Explores an Unlikely Friendship

10/09/2020

Ninety-one-year old Holocaust survivor Irving Roth and 36-year-old former radical Islamist Kasim Hafeez are now close friends. After Hafeez noticed the concentration camp number on Roth’s forearm, he had it imprinted on his own arm as a sign of solidarity. 

The story of the two men, told against a background of historical and...

Hezbollah

IDF downs Hezbollah drone that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon

04/27/2021

Israeli soldiers on Tuesday downed a drone belonging to Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror organization after it entered Israeli airspace, the military said.

Soldiers also located a second drone that was downed on the Israel-Lebanon border several months ago, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

“The drone was under...

In The News

Israel welcomes 104 new immigrants from North America

04/27/2021

Israel welcomed 104 olim (new immigrants) from North America at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Monday. The group arrived on a specially chartered New York-Tel Aviv flight, facilitated by the organization Nefesh B’Nefesh, in cooperation with the Israeli Aliyah and Integration Ministry, the Jewish Agency, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael...