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.

Erdan to UN Security Council: ‘Extremist Narratives’ Will ‘Keep Region Stuck in the Past’

Israeli Ambassador to United Nations Gilad Erdan warned against “adopting the narratives of the extremists in the Middle East” during a UN Security Council session on Wednesday, saying that doing so would “keep the region stuck in the past.”
Erdan, who also serves as ambassador to the US, contrasted recent milestones in Israel’s warming ties with...

Israeli, PA health and environment ministers boost medical ties in rare meeting

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz and Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg held a rare meeting with their Palestinian Authority counterparts on Wednesday, Israeli and Palestinian officials confirmed.
Such a high-level meeting of civilian officials has not happened for several years due to poor ties between Israel and the PA....

Government set to implement 5-year, NIS 500 million tech plan for Israeli Arabs

The government is reportedly set to implement a five-year plan worth over NIS 500 million ($154 million) to boost high-tech and science programs in Israel’s Arab community.
Information and Technology Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen and Mansour Abbas, head of the Islamist Ra’am party, held a series of meetings on the proposed program in the past...

Israeli judoka Peter Paltchik moves on to quarter-final

Israeli judoka Peter Paltchik will move on to the quarter-final in the under 100 kg weight category on Thursday after defeating Mongolian judoka Otgonbaatar Lkhagvasuren in the round of 16.

Paltchik will face off against Japanese judoka Aaron Wolf.

Read More: Jerusalem Post

Gaza boy gets special present: Israeli woman’s kidney

Idit Harel Segal was turning 50, and she had chosen a gift: She was going to give one of her own kidneys to a stranger.

The kindergarten teacher from northern Israel, a proud Israeli, hoped her choice would set an example of generosity in a land of perpetual conflict. She was spurred by memories of her late grandfather, a Holocaust survivor,...

Meir Medical Center gives Indian patient the gift of being able to talk

Shambhavi “Sam” Jha, 20, thought that she would never be able to speak in a comprehensible way. Born with a cleft palate and tongue, it was hard for her to breathe, hear and talk.

"When I was young I had a huge amount of insecurity and fear that if something was said the person in front of me would not understand me, so I spoke very little and...

3 women receive kidneys in Israel-UAE organ exchange, 1st with Arab state

An Israeli woman has donated a kidney to a recipient on Abu Dhabi, in a first-of-its kind arrangement that will bring a kidney from the United Arab emirates to a different Israeli woman.
At 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, doctors at Sheba Medical Center removed a kidney from Shani Markowitz, 39. The surgery went smoothly, and the organ was raced to Ben...

Tokyo 2020: Iranian refugee thanks Israel after winning silver

Iranian born judoka Saeid Mollaei has won a silver medal in the Tokyo 2020 judo tournament as a representative for the Mongolian team.

Mollaei was granted refugee status by Germany in 2019 after fleeing Iran for refusing to forfeit his match against Israeli judoka Sagi Muki.

Noting his close friendship with Muki, Israeli channel Sports 5...

Bipartisan US lawmakers urge EU to fully label Hezbollah a terror group

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a resolution on Monday to urge the European Union “to fully designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization.”

According to Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and Global Counterterrorism, the EU currently includes only Hezbollah’s...

New Olympic medalist Semberg gets hero’s welcome upon return to Israel

Israel’s only medalist so far in the Tokyo Olympics, taekwondo athlete Avishag Semberg, returned to Israel on Tuesday to a hero’s welcome at Ben Gurion Airport and in her hometown of Gedera, sending a message to girls and boys that “anything is possible.”
Semberg, 19, who had not been considered a medal favorite ahead of the contest, won the...

Blinken Voices Outrage After Swastika Etched at State Department

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday voiced outrage and promised renewed efforts to combat antisemitism after a swastika was found etched in an elevator at the State Department.
Officials said they had launched an investigation into how the symbol of Nazi Germany was scraped into the wood paneling of an elevator in the Harry S. Truman...

Secret Iran hacking plans against West revealed – report

Five secret documents allegedly showing Iranian plans to hack infrastructure in Western countries', including in Europe, were publicized by Sky News late Monday.

Although there are reports of such hacks by Iran and others in the past, it is unusual for a media organization to obtain actual internal planning documents for Unit 13, the cyber unit...

With new national record, swimmer Gorbenko makes history to reach Olympic final

Israeli swimmer Anastasia Gorbenko made history and set a national record in the 100-meter backstroke Monday, on her way to clinching a chance to compete for an Olympic medal in the event. She also qualified for the semifinals in the 200-meter individual medley — her strongest event.
Gorbenko, 17, raced in with a time of 59.30 seconds, enough to...

Iran protests spread to Tehran: ‘Death to the Dictator!’

Dozens of Iranians marched down a major street in Tehran on Monday, online videos show, amid ongoing protests over water shortages in southwestern Iran.
The demonstrators are seen in the videos marching down Jomhuri Islami Avenue — or “Islamic Republic Avenue” in Farsi — and calling on police to support them. Men on motorbikes and those in cars...

Palestinian who saved Jewish family granted permanent residency

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked granted this week permanent residency to A., a Palestinian man who saved the lives of three members of the Ettinger family who were shot at by terrorists on a highway in Judea and Samaria in 2016.

The father of the family, Mark, lost his life in the attack, but wife Chava, son Pedaya and daughter Tehila survived...

Bennett aides to travel to DC for meetings with Biden staff ahead of PM’s visit

Senior aides to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will fly to Washington next week for meetings with their American counterparts in preparation for the premier’s visit to DC, an official in the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed to The Times of Israel Monday.
National Security Council chairman Eyal Hulata and Bennett’s diplomatic adviser Shimrit Meir...

At CUFI gathering, Christians and Jews alike vow to fight BDS ‘economic anti-Semitism’

If day one of the Christians United for Israel 2021 summit was about honoring Israel, the next day’s focus at the organization’s annual conference held this year in Dallas was a call to action.
The more than 700 invited CUFI leaders and donors at the two-day conference on July 18-19 arrived early in the morning for the start of the marathon...

Radical Exchange: How Turkey and Iran Infiltrate Young American Minds

On June 29, during a conference at the Gaza Strip’s Al-Quds Open University titled “The Zionist Narrative Between Cassation and Dismantlement,” Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas stated: “There have become convictions and shifts in the world’s public opinion and at the level of parliaments towards reconsidering the Palestinian...

Palestinians accuse Hamas of storing weapons in residential areas

Palestinian factions and human rights organizations have called on Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups to stop  storing weapons in residential areas following another explosion, which killed one person and injured 14 others on Thursday.

They also demanded a thorough investigation into the explosion in order to hold those responsible...

Lapid and Gantz said to warn US: Iran is close to nuclear threshold

Israeli authorities have warned US officials in recent days that Iran is closer than ever to attaining nuclear weapons, according to the Kan public broadcaster.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and other Israeli officials have addressed the issue with their American counterparts recently, issuing an “unusual warning,”...