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.

Palestinian Authority

The Palestinian Authority Is Still Paying Terrorists | Opinion

01/21/2021

With a new U.S. administration taking power, things might be rapidly changing for the Palestinian Authority, the entity that rules over the West Bank. In November, then-senator Kamala Harris promised that the Biden presidency would "restore economic and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people" and "reopen the U.S. consulate...

In The News

Sudan Working To Cancel Israel Boycott Law – Report

01/23/2021

Sudan is expected to discuss cancelling the law that forbids establishing relations with Israel, according to a claim made on Saturday by a source in the country's Justice Ministry. The report was first published by "Makan" Kan News' Arabic news source. 

The boycott law in Sudan has been in effect since 1958, and outlaws business...

In The News

World’s Largest Holocaust Memorial Planned For Ukraine’s Babyn Yar Ravine

01/21/2021

Reversing plans to build one central museum at the site of the Holocaust’s largest open-air massacre, the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center (BYHMC) announced plans on January 21 to construct 12 buildings across 370-acres of the filled-in Kyiv ravine where over 100,000 people were slaughtered during World War II.

On September 29...

ISIS

Islamic State Claims Baghdad Twin Bombing At Market That Killed 32, Wounded 110

01/22/2021

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a twin suicide bombing that killed 32 people and wounded 110 at a crowded market in central Baghdad on Thursday.

It was the deadliest attack on the city in three years, when another suicide bomber targeted the same area.

The first attacker drew a crowd at the bustling market in...

Syria

Israel Strikes Pro-Iran Militia In Syria: Report

01/22/2021

Israeli airstrikes targeted a site near the city of Hama in northwestern Syria in the predawn hours of Friday morning, Syrian media reported.

These were the first Israeli strikes against targets in Syria reported since US President Joe Biden entered office earlier this week and the fifth such alleged attack in the past month.
...

In The News

IDF Downs Drone Crossing Into Israel From Lebanon

01/22/2021
UAV was monitored throughout entire incident, army says

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) downed a drone crossing into the Israeli airspace from Lebanon, the army said on Friday.
The unmanned aerial vehicle had been monitored throughout the entire incident.
"The IDF will continue to operate in order to prevent any attempt to...

In The News

UAE Fund To Invest $100 Million In Clean Energy In Israel

01/21/2021

Masdar fund and EDF Renewables Israel have signed a strategic cooperation investment agreement

Abu Dhabi-based Masdar and Israel's EDF Renewables have signed a strategic cooperation agreement, which will see the renewable energy arm of the UAE investment fund Mubadala invest hundreds of millions of dollars in developing renewable...

In The News

Israel, Morocco Sign Direct Flight Agreement

01/21/2021

Israel had established liaison offices in Morocco in the 1990s during a short-lived diplomatic opening.

Israel and Morocco on Thursday signed an aviation agreement that will see direct flights launch between the two countries.
The development comes after Israel and Gulf states, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, signed...

US-Israel Relationship

Israel’s UN Envoy Steps Into Role Of US Ambassador

01/21/2021

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan on Thursday assumed the role of ambassador to the United States, taking over from Ron Dermer, who held the position for the past seven years.

This is the first time in 50 years that an Israeli diplomat has held both positions.

Erdan takes office at a particularly...

Iran

The Case Against The Iran Deal

01/21/2021

Proponents of the Iran nuclear agreement are sounding the alarm. In 2018, the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and since then, Iran has increased the quality and quantity of its uranium enrichment well beyond what the deal allows. Recently, it has even begun enriching uranium to 20 percent, a short...

In The News

Iraq: Twin Suicide Bombings Rock Central Baghdad, At Least 28 Reported Killed

01/21/2021
Two suicide blasts reported in busy market area in vicinity of Baghdad's al-Tayaran square

At least 28 people were killed and 73 wounded following a suicide bombing in central Baghdad on Thursday, Iraqi military reports.
According to some of the available reports, two suicide bombers activated their devices at the busy Shorjah...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

IDF To Hold Massive Exercise This Summer, Simulating Full-Scale, Multi-Front War

01/21/2021

The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday announced plans for a massive, month-long exercise this summer, simulating a multi-front war, in which every branch of the military will take part.

This will be the first time that the military holds a drill of this scope, according to the IDF.

“The structure of the exercise, which is...

In The News

The Arab Riots Of The 1920s-1930s

01/20/2021
CUFI Coffee Break
Lesson 50
The first major Arab riots against the Jews of Palestine occurred in 1920, with violent attacks against Jews in Jerusalem and in the Galilee. The Arab revolts created a problem for the British. They had a responsibility, as part of the British Mandate, to steward the creation of a Jewish national home. At...

Iran

US Charges Political Scientist For Acting As Unregistered Agent Of Iranian Government

01/20/2021

A political scientist has been charged with acting and conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the Iranian government.

A criminal complaint charging Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, also known as Lotfolah Kaveh Afrasiabi, was unsealed on Tuesday. He was arrested a day earlier, on Monday, at his home in Watertown, Mass.

“For over...

Iran

US, UK Officials Urge EU And Olympics To Stop Execution Of Iran Wrestler

01/20/2021

Mounting pressure from British and American officials along with Iranianhuman rights groups on the International Olympic Committee and United World Wrestling has on Tuesday sparked a reaction from the powerful sports organizations after days of silence about the pending execution of a second decorated Iranian wrestler.

"The...

Iran

Major European Powers Rebuke Iran Over Uranium Metal Plans

01/20/2021
Three European powers on Saturday warned Iran against starting work on uranium metal-based fuel for a research reactor, saying it contravened the 2015 nuclear deal and had serious military implications.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, and Tehran said on Wednesday that Iran had started the work, the latest breach of its...

In The News

‘Christ Born Of Mary’: 1st Proof Of Early Christianity Found In Galilee Village

01/20/2021

With the words, “Christ born of Mary,” archaeologists have discovered the first evidence of an early Christian settlement from 1,500 years ago in what is today the location of a small Arab village near Nazareth.

According to Israel Antiquities Authority researchers, a recently discovered Greek inscription dedicated to the...

Hamas

IDF Strikes Hamas Targets After Rocket Attack From Gaza

01/20/2021
Projectile launched from coastal enclave lands in open terrain

Israeli military targeted terror sites in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, hours after Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket into Israel.
In a tweet, the Israeli military said that IDF tanks fired at the group's positions in retaliation for the attack....

US-Israel Relationship

Pentagon Moves Israel Into Central Command To Boost Cooperation With Arab States

01/16/2021

With a nod to Israel’s increasingly normalized relations with the Arab world, the Pentagon is reorganizing its global command structure to include the Jewish state in the military sphere managed by US Central Command, which includes other Middle East countries.

The move will allow for greater collaboration against Iran, the...

Iran

Iran To Execute 2nd Wrestler, Sparking Outrage From US State Department

01/10/2021
A top U.S. State Department official came out swinging Sunday against the Islamic Republic of Iran’s plan to execute another wrestler, after Tehran’s rulers publicly hanged the champion wrestler Navid Afkari in September on widely criticized, trumped-up charges.
“The Iranian regime must be held to account for their vile human rights...