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.

Israeli Society

Bus driver who was Israel’s first serious virus patient makes full recovery

A bus driver from East Jerusalem who was hospitalized on March 5, and attached to a respirator after he contracted the coronavirus, on Monday was released from hospital, after recovering.

“It’s been a very difficult month, the hardest month of my life,” the man, who has been identified only as Johnny said on his discharge from the Baruch Padeh...

Medical Advancement

NY rabbi who survived COVID-19 donates blood plasma to treatment research

A New York rabbi who recovered from a mild case of COVID-19 donated blood plasma to researchers on Friday in the hope that his antibodies could be used to treat patients with more severe coronavirus symptoms.
Rabbi Daniel Nevins, dean of the rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, was laid up for a few days earlier this...

US-Israel Relationship

Teva to send millions of tablets to US hospitals for possible treatment of virus

Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva said that it will donate millions of doses of its anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which has been touted as a possible treatment for the coronavirus (COVID-19), to U.S. hospitals free of charge.

It said 6 million doses will be delivered by March 31 and more than 10 million in a month.

“We are committed to...

Iran

Pompeo Tweets Video of Iran’s Rouhani Saying Efforts to Lift Sanctions Due to Coronavirus Actually Intended to Enrich Regime

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo posted a video over the weekend showing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani saying that the purpose of Iran’s public relations campaign to end US sanctions due to the coronavirus pandemic is really about enriching the regime.

“Startling revelation by #Iran’s President @HassanRouhani that the regime’s concerted...

Medical Advancement

The Israeli Development That Could Produce Hundreds of Ventilators a Day

Microsoft’s research and development center in Israel, in collaboration with Israel’s emergency service Magen David Adom (MADA), the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital), and the Israeli Air Force, is working to develop a low-cost ventilator that can be mass-produced in labs without the need of dedicated factories, Microsoft Israel...

US-Israel Relationship

In Phone Call, Trump and Netanyahu Agree to ‘Cooperate Closely’ on Coronavirus Fight

US President Donald Trump held a telephone call on Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A White House statement said, “Today, President Donald J. Trump spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu discussed the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic, and the...

Antisemitism

Monsey attack victim Josef Neumann succumbs to injuries

Josef Neumann, 72, who was critically injured in the Monsey machete attack during Hanukkah last December, has succumbed to his wounds.
Neumann was struck in the head several times with a machete by the attacker, with the weapon penetrating his skull. In February, he opened his eyes after being in a coma for 59 days.

"We were hoping when he...

In The News

NY couple’s wedding attended on Zoom by friends, family — and officiating rabbi

JTA — Before everything changed, Jalna Silverstein and Asael Papour were planning a wedding much like many other Jewish nuptials on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
They had a band and caterer lined up, a ceremony planned for the synagogue where Silverstein grew up and all the little details mapped out, from the napkins to the chair coverings to...

Antisemitism

NYU Condemns Ex-Student’s ‘Shameful’ and ‘Callous’ Tweet Mocking First Israeli Coronavirus Death

New York University (NYU) took an unusual step this week, condemning a former student for a mocking tweet about the first Israeli coronavirus fatality.
Upon learning of the death of Aryeh Even, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who lived in Jerusalem, last Friday, Leen Dweik — ex-president of NYU’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter —...

Iran

US Imposes Fresh Sanctions on Iranian Individuals, Companies for Alleged Terror Ties

The United States on Thursday blacklisted 20 Iran– and Iraq-based companies, officials and individuals, accusing them of supporting terrorist groups.
The US Treasury Department said in a statement that the individuals and entities supported Iran‘s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its elite foreign paramilitary and espionage arm, the...

Iran

Iran-backed Houthis offer to free Saudis in exchange for Hamas members

CAIRO, Egypt — The leader of Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Thursday declared his willingness to free several Saudi captives in exchange for the release of Hamas members recently detained in the kingdom, an unprecedented statement that signaled Iran’s regional reach.In a lengthy televised speech to mark the five-year anniversary of Yemen’s devastating...

Medical Advancement

Israeli scientist’s shrimp antiviral could be adapted for coronavirus

Israeli scientist and entrepreneur Prof. Avi Schroeder is working on a preventative drug for the coronavirus by adapting a food additive designed for shrimp.The project is one of the several emergency projects that are the focus of around-the-clock work by 20 different labs at the Technion Institute of Technology to work on coronavirus vaccines,...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israeli Soldiers’ New Frontier: Delivering Food to Grandma

As Israel’s defense establishment plays an increasingly important role in the nation’s battle against the coronavirus pandemic, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Tuesday that it will take responsibility for the country’s elderly population, considered to be the highest-risk group for coronavirus infection.
With the encouragement of Israeli...

Medical Advancement

Israeli startup aims to identify coronavirus carriers using their voice

Can coronavirus carriers be identified by analyzing their voice?
That’s what an Israeli startup is trying to find out, in collaboration with the Defense Ministry’s Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure.
The startup, Vocalis Health, is currently conducting research aiming to identify a vocal fingerprint...

Israeli Society

Half a million people take part in mass online prayer against coronavirus

Half a million people participated in a mass online prayer event staged on various different digital platforms and involving rabbis and participants from around the world, to request divine intervention to halt the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The initiative was promoted by the chief rabbis of Israel rabbis Yitzhak Yosef and David Lau along...

Medical Advancement

Israeli universities, institutes lead the fight against coronavirus

Israeli universities and institutes—and their affiliated academics, researchers, doctors, scientists and students—are leading the fight against the coronavirus. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the Technion‒Israel Institute of Technology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Migal Galilee Research Institute and the Sheba Medical Center are each at the...

Iran

American Robert Levinson, held by Iran, believed to be dead

Robert Levinson, an American illegally held by the Iranian regime, is believed to have died, his family wrote in a statement posted Wednesday afternoon. “We received information from US officials that has led both them and us to conclude that our wonderful husband and father died while in Iranian custody.” His death is not believed to be connected...

Turkey

Is Turkey planning a new invasion of eastern Syria? – analysis

Turkey’s leadership thrives on crises. For the last several years the government in Ankara has invented a new crisis every month, sometimes with the US. In October 2019 it invaded part of eastern Syria, causing 200,000 people to flee. In November Turkey created a crises in Libya with an energy deal in the Mediterranean and in January and February...

Hezbollah

‘Lebanon needs an end to Iranian patronage, not Nasrallah’s advice on fighting the coronavirus’

Lebanon, like much of the rest of the world, is currently battling the coronavirus epidemic and taking measures to limit the spread of the disease. Some in Lebanon, and especially those belonging to the anti-Hezbollah March 14 camp, have accused Hezbollah of causing the outbreak in Lebanon by refusing for several weeks to halt flights from Iran...

Iran

Iran refuses to release Christian prisoners amid coronavirus outbreak while EU sends millions in aid

Iran’s theocratic rulers have temporarily released some 85,000 prisoners, including political prisoners, in an effort to prevent the spread of the Middle East’s worst coronavirus outbreak, but have refused to free many Iranian Christians jailed for practicing their faith.
Article18, an organization that promotes religious freedom in Iran, told Fox...