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.

Gaza Strip resident arrested for crossing into Israel

A suspect has been arrested by IDF soldiers after crossing into Israel from the southern Gaza Strip on Monday morning, according to the IDF Spokesperson.

The suspect was not found to have any weapons on him, and is being questioned at the scene of the infiltration.

Read More: Jerusalem Post

Erdan: We’ll defend our right to Jerusalem against Hamas lies

Israel will continue to defend its rights to Jerusalem against the falsehoods spread by the terror group Hamas, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations and the United States Gilad Erdan (Likud) told a visiting delegation of foreign envoys that he brought to the Old City on Friday.

“As a former minister of public security, I know firsthand...

Jewish Organizations Mark Anniversary of 1994 AMIA Bombing in Buenos Aires

Jewish organizations on Sunday marked the 27th anniversary of the bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.
The 1994 bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) was orchestrated by Iran and carried out by the terrorist group Hezbollah.
Despite decades of efforts by the Jewish community, the...

Biden administration rips Iran over delay in prisoner exchange talks

A spokesman for the State Department slammed Iran in response to claims that the U.S. and UK were linking a humanitarian exchange with the Iran Nuclear Deal, calling the allegations “outrageous.”
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, in a tweet on Saturday, accused the U.S. and British governments of holding a proposed prisoner swap “hostage” over...

US gives $135M to UNRWA after agency finally agrees to condemn antisemitism

The Biden administration paid $135 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) on Saturday after an agreement was signed last week that for the first time condemns anti-Israel hatred.
"The signing of the US-UNRWA Framework and additional support demonstrates we once again have an ongoing partner in the...

Iran in Syria and Israeli strategy choices – analysis

Israel may face a crossroads in its Syria policy in the next year as countries in the region seek to bring Syria back into the fold of Arab states and prefer that the instability and chaos that has underpinned the Syrian civil war for a decade, end with the Syrian regime cemented in power.

This is not a simple process because the United States...

Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi named IDF’s next top lawyer, 2nd female major general

Brig. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi was named the Israel Defense Forces’ next military advocate general and the second female major general in the country’s history on Thursday.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz approved her nomination by IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit was also consulted about the appointment,...

Facebook: Iran-based spies targeted US, European defense workers

Facebook said on Thursday that it has disrupted an Iran-based espionage operation targeting defense and aerospace workers in Europe and the United States.
Fake accounts posing as company job recruiters or employees were used to dupe targets, according to head of cyber espionage investigations Mike Dvilyanski.
“This effort was highly targeted,”...

Spate of Antisemitic and Racist Graffiti Shocks Residents of Alliance, Ohio

Police in Alliance, Ohio are investigating a spate of antisemitic and racist vandalism in the downtown area which they believe are connected.
All three incidents targeted Jews. The same symbol — a Star of David crossed out in a red circle — was daubed on the front of the YWCA building on E. Market St and upon another building on S. Webb Ave.
The...

Escaped Iranian prisoner to embark on historic Israel visit, criticizes Biden over nuclear negotiations

Former political prisoner Ahmad Batebi slammed the Biden administration's Iran negotiations one day after the FBI revealed Iranian intelligence agents plotted to abduct an Iranian American journalist on American soil.

A former Iranian political prisoner, Ahmad Batebi, will join a delegation of Iranian dissidents on a goodwill mission to...

Gantz: We must ‘adapt our plans’ to prepare for a nuclear Iran

Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Wednesday called for Israel to step up its preparations for the possibility of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“Against the greatest threat — Iran arming itself with a nuclear weapon — we have no choice but to expand our force build-up, to continue to rely on our human capital and to adapt our capabilities and our...

Bennett To Meet Biden In Washington Next Month, Iran Top Of Agenda

Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will fly to Washington in August for his first face-to-face meeting with US President Joe Biden since taking office in June, reports Israel's Channel 12 news.
Iran will reportedly be the premier's top agenda item to discuss at the White House, including Israeli concerns about the Islamic Republic's incoming...

Northern Command head: Hezbollah to pay a ‘heavy price’ if war breaks out

Fifteen years after the Second Lebanon War, both the IDF and Hezbollah continue to rattle sabers and warn the other side that any future war between the two foes would be deadlier than ever.

“After the Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah learned a lesson that has held for 15 years,” said OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Amir Baram, adding that “if there...

Slovakia to open diplomatic mission in Jerusalem in September

Slovakia upgraded the status of the diplomatic mission it plans to open in Jerusalem in September so that it now falls under the country’s Foreign Ministry.

It’s a move that is seen as a victory for Israel’s campaign against international refusal to recognize that Jerusalem – even west Jerusalem – is the capital of the Jewish state.

The...

Archaeologists find part of Jerusalem’s wall destroyed ahead of 9th of Av

A section of Jerusalem’s city wall built some 2,700 years ago and mostly destroyed by the Babylonian army in 586 BCE was uncovered by archaeologists in the City of David National Park, the Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Wednesday.

The massive structure – some 5 m. wide – was built on the steep eastern slope leading to the city, just a...

In Historic Ruling, Court Finds Iran, Syria and Iranian Banks Responsible for Murder of American Citizen in Israel

MM~LAW LLC won a significant victory in the fight against terrorism yesterday, with a finding in the U.S. Federal court that Syria, Iran, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and three Iranian banks (Markazi, Melli, and Saderat) were all liable for Hamas’ brutal murder of American Eitam and his...

IDF: Hezbollah storing massive weapons depot next to a school

The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday revealed the location of an alleged Hezbollah arms cache in central Lebanon, saying a large quantity of explosives was being stored in a building across the street from a school.
According to Israeli assessments, explosives with roughly half the destructive power of the massive blast that leveled huge swaths...

Auschwitz Survivor Who Used Music to Help Combat Racism, Antisemitism Dies at 96

JNS.org – Holocaust survivor Esther Bejarano died on July 10 at the Jewish Hospital in Hamburg, Germany, at the age of 96, according to The Associated Press.
Born in 1924 in the French-occupied German town of Saarlouis, Bejarano was the daughter of Jewish cantor Rudolf Loewy. Her family moved to the city of Saarbruecken but after Nazi forces...

Herzog says upcoming UN Durban conference on racism promotes hate

The upcoming United Nations conference on racism is “a gathering of hatred and slander, an antisemitic event in the worst sense,” President Isaac Herzog said Tuesday at the opening of the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism in Jerusalem.
Herzog called for countries and organizations to join together by acting “decisively, unanimously, and...

Hezbollah in ‘deep crisis’ as Lebanon on verge of economic collapse

While Lebanon suffers from the worst economic crisis in its history, the Iranian terror proxy Hezbollah, which has such a heavy influence in the country, is doing everything it can to safeguard its interests during the turmoil. Still, it is in no position right now to provoke conflict with Israel, according to Israeli experts.
The Lebanese pound...