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.

Antisemitism

Austria: Woman Attacks Rabbi In Vienna, Shouts Anti-Semitic Slurs

11/27/2020
'Slaughter all the Jews,' woman heard yelling by witnesses

A woman attacked a rabbi in Vienna, Austria, ripped his yarmulke off his head and waved a knife at him while shouting anti-Semitic slurs, news agency Associated Press reported Friday.
According to witnesses at the scene, the assailant, around 50 years old, approached the...

In The News

Netanyahu Welcomes First Commercial Flight From Dubai to Tel Aviv

11/27/2020

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the first commercial flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Thursday.

Speaking during the ceremony, Netanyahu said the flight “opens the way for dozens of flights a week to Dubai, to the UAE, to Bahrain and to the east.”

In combination with a visa...

Iran

Iran’s Nuclear Program Chief Mohsen Fakhrizadeh Assassinated

11/27/2020

Head of Iran's nuclear program Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, 59, was assassinated in Damavand, east of Tehran, local Iranian news reported on Friday.

Iran later confirmed the reports. "The nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated today by terrorists," the Iranian Defense Ministry wrote in a statement, while not blaming any...

In The News

First Israeli Business Delegation Travels To Bahrain

11/25/2020

Bank Hapoalim CEO Dov Kotler led a business delegation to Bahrain on Tuesday, marking the first Israeli business group to visit the country since peace was announced last month.

The trip was overseen by Aryeh Lightstone, senior adviser to US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. Other members of the delegation included Harel...

Iran

The Dangerous Iran Deal

11/25/2020

For over 40 years, Iran’s regime has been obsessed with destroying Israel and America, as well as dominating the Middle East. The US State Department recognizes Iran as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. For decades, the world sought to isolate Iran and curb its terrorist activities and nuclear weapons ambitions through...

Hezbollah

Belgian MP Proposes Hezbollah Ban

11/25/2020

Belgium must act to ban Hezbollah in its entirety, lawmaker Michael Freilich said, submitting a bill to that effect this week.

Brussels, like many other countries in Europe, follows the EU’s policy of banning Hezbollah’s military arm and not its political branch, though the Shi’a terrorist group does not divide itself in that way....

Iran

Israel Urges UN To Immediately Act Against Iran’s Establishment In Syria

11/25/2020

Israeli envoy calls on Security Council to probe into planting of explosives on Israel-Syria border

Israel Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan sent an official letter on Wednesday to the Security Council, demanding immediate action against Iranian forces in Syria and to condemn a recent incident in which explosive devices...

In The News

Report: West Bank Car-Ramming Attack Thwarted By Israeli Security Forces

11/25/2020
Israeli Border Police forces shot at a driver who attempted to ram his vehicle into security personnel in A'Zaim crossing in the West Bank near Ma’ale Adumim, Hebrew media reported on Wednesday.
It was yet unclear what the condition of the assailant was, but several outlets reported the suspect had been “neutralized.”
Read More: I24

In The News

Monitor: 8 Pro-Iranian Fighters Killed In Syria By Israeli Airstrikes

11/25/2020
Syrian media report two targets hit in suburbs of Damascus and south of Quneitra

At least eight pro-Iranian militiamen were killed in the Israeli attack carried out in Syria overnight Tuesday, a war monitor group reported Wednesday.
The nationalities of the combatants were not immediately known, according to the British-based...

In The News

Senior State Dept. Official Says Saudis Enthusiastic About Israel Ties

11/23/2020

Many Saudis are looking forward to normalization with Israel, US Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs R. Clarke Cooper said in Jerusalem on Monday.

Cooper accompanied Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Saudi Arabia on the weekend and said “the interest in the pursuit of normalization with the State of Israel...

In The News

Survey: Israel Ranked Top Country For Women Entrepreneurs

11/24/2020
The report notes that Israel is 'a prime example in terms of gender support with rapid... results'

Israel is being ranked the top country in the world for women entrepreneurs by credit giant Mastercard's new annual Index of Women Entrepreneurs, The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday.
The MIWE report notes that Israel is "a prime...

In The News

Netanyahu To Visit Bahrain ‘Soon’ As Crown Prince Salman’s Guest

11/24/2020

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that he had accepted an invitation from Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa to visit the Gulf state.  No date was set for the visit, with the Israeli premier saying only that it would be “soon.”

The two leaders held their second-ever talks on Monday,...

Antisemitism

Douglas Macgregor’s Anti-Semitic Comments Disqualify Him From Serving At The Pentagon

11/23/2020

The staff of acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller recently grew, as retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor was appointed as his senior adviser. Such an announcement would typically be ho-hum staffing news but not in this case.

Macgregor has made fairly extensive comments about “the Israel lobby,” which he claims has bought...

In The News

In Threat To Iran, US Sends Heavy Bombers To Middle East Via Israel

11/23/2020

The United States this week rapidly deployed several heavy bombers to the Middle East this week in an apparent threat to Iran.

US Central Command said the planes were sent into the region “to deter aggression and reassure US partners and allies.”

In a highly irregular move, the B-52H Stratofortress planes were seen flying...

In The News

First Israeli Delegation Lands in Sudan Since Normalization

11/23/2020
Sudan was the third Arab country this year to announce a deal with the Jewish state

Israel on Monday sent a delegation to Sudan, its first since last month's announcement of normalization of relations between the two countries, a senior Israeli official said.
For days there have been rumors in Jerusalem that a delegation would...

In The News

COLUMN: Georgia Needs a Pro-Israel Senator

11/21/2020

Over the next two months the Peach State will be the epicenter of the political world. Our mailboxes, inboxes and airwaves are going to be inundated with messages cooked up in Washington that will try to re-shape what Georgia voters believe about the candidates running for our two seats in the US Senate. For the Rev. Raphael Warnock,...

Palestinian Authority

Palestinian Authority Prisoners Official Told the New York Times ‘Pay to Slay’ Would Be Changed, Then Denied It in Arabic

11/22/2020

Despite claiming to the New York Times that the Palestinian Authority’s policy of making payments to imprisoned terrorists would be changed, a top PA official promptly denied in Arabic that any such changes would be made.

The practice of paying salaries to terrorist prisoners and their families — including the families of dead...

In The News

Cabinet Approves Visa-Free Travel From UAE

11/22/2020

The cabinet voted in favor of a visa-free agreement with the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, a deal that would allow Israelis and Emiratis to travel between the countries without the need for a visa.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed out that this was the first time Israel has ever signed such an agreement with an Arab...

Hamas

IDF Launches Retaliatory Strikes Against Hamas Targets After Gaza Rocket Attack

11/22/2020
Israel said Sunday its military struck Hamas targets in Gaza in response to a rocket attack launched from the Palestinian enclave.
The Israeli airforce struck two rocket ammunition manufacturing sites, a military compound and "underground infrastructures," the Israel Defence Forces said.
A rocket was fired at Israel from the Gaza...

In The News

Saudi Diplomat Says Nobody ‘Naive’ Enough To Go Back To Old Iran Deal

Saudi UN envoy calls for new deal that would include Riyadh and stretch beyond Iran's nuclear program

Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, Saudi Arabia's UN envoy, said Sunday that nobody can be "naïve" enough to re-enter the old Iranian nuclear deal.

In his interview with Fox News, the diplomat asserted that the world had already witnessed the deal's...