ISSUES

At CUFI, we are focused on several key issues with the goal of defending Israel’s strength, security, and sovereignty.

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Israeli Society

Immigration to Israel on way to passing last year’s numbers

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The number of immigrants to Israel this year is on the way to topping the 2018 figures, according to the government.

Some 27,300 people have made aliyah through October, according to figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics, The Times of Israel reported Monday. In all of 2018, more than 28,000 olim moved to Israel,...

Issues

We Can Help Lebanon Come Back From Death’s Doorstep

Lebanon is dying. While it once had great potential as a crown jewel of the Mediterranean, the nation is being consumed once again by violence, division and the debilitating cancer of Hezbollah. The terrorist organization has murdered American soldiers, bombed Jewish cultural centers and an Israeli embassy, kidnapped Israeli soldiers, started...

Iran

Iran arrests evangelical Christians before Christmas holiday

The Iranian regime has begun cracking down on evangelical Christians in Iran in the run-up to Christmas, experts and Iranian Christians said.

Security officials routinely arrest Christian citizens during the Christmas season, according to the 2019 US Commission for International Religious Freedom report, which found the regime arrested 114...

Iran

Horse-trading Iran hawks seize on Pompeo’s Senate interest

WASHINGTON (AP) — In recent days, Iran hawks in Congress leveraged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s interest in a Senate run to win a key concession from the Trump administration that could help their bid to kill the nuclear deal with Tehran.

Late last week, the State Department agreed to release a portion of an internal legal opinion that says...

Jerusalem

‘Brazil will move its embassy to Jerusalem in 2020’

(December 16, 2019 / Israel Hayom) Senior Brazilian lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro said on Sunday that Brazil was committed to moving its embassy to Jerusalem in 2020.

Speaking at the opening event in Jerusalem for a Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (APEX-Brasil) office, Bolsonaro, who is the son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro,...

Antisemitism

Beverly Hills Persian synagogue vandalized over Shabbat

The Beverly Hills Police Dept. (BHPD) is “actively investigating” a series of incidents of vandalism in the city of Beverly Hills over Shabbat, according to a police statement.

According to BHPD, police responded to a call from Nessah Synagogue, one of the largest Iranian Jewish synagogues in Los Angeles, shortly after 7 a.m., after an employee...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Montenegro signs $35 million deal to buy Israeli weapons system

Elbit Systems Ltd., Israel’s largest non-government-owned defense company, will provide Montenegro with a weapons system in a deal worth $35 million that was signed by the two countries on Sunday.

According to the agreement, Elbit Systems will supply Remote Control Weapon Stations (RCWS), which will be integrated into US-manufactured joint light...

Hezbollah

US sanctions men, companies accused of laundering money for Hezbollah

(December 16, 2019 / JNS) The United States sanctioned two top Hezbollah money-launderers on Friday—one in Lebanon and the other in the Democratic Republic of the Congo—and their companies.

“Hezbollah continues to use seemingly legitimate businesses as front companies to raise and launder funds in countries like the DRC, where it can use bribery...

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS)

Boris Johnson’s government will pass anti-BDS law, UK official says

(December 16, 2019 / JNS) Boris Johnson’s new Conservative government aims to pass a law making it illegal for public bodies to take part in the anti-Israel Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement, a senior U.K. official said on Sunday.

Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Dialogue conference in Jerusalem, U.K. Special Envoy...

Antisemitism

New Jersey attackers linked to anti-Semitic fringe movement

The deadly shooting rampage at a New Jersey kosher market has cast a spotlight on a fringe movement known for its anti-Semitic strain of street preaching and its role in a viral-video confrontation at the Lincoln Memorial this year.

Investigators believe that the man and woman who killed three people at the Jersey City grocery Tuesday in addition...

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS)

BDS activists in Spain attack Israeli delegation of Arabs and Jews

A joint delegation comprised of Arab and Jewish residents of the West Bank, including the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, was attacked by members of the anti-Israel Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment Movement in Madrid on Tuesday.

The delegation arrived in Madrid to meet with members of the Spanish parliament and discuss the...

Terrorism

Danish police arrest 20 for radical Islamic terror plot

(December 12, 2019 / JNS) Danish police arrested approximately 20 individuals across the country on Wednesday in connection with what law-enforcement officials have said was a planned Islamic terrorist attack.

Eight of the suspects will have pre-trial hearings on Thursday, the AP reported.

Copenhagen Police Chief Inspector Joergen Bergen Skov...

In The News

Boris Johnson defeats Jeremy Corbyn by large margin in British elections

LONDON (JTA) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party has defeated Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party by a large margin in Britain’s general elections on Thursday, exit polls indicate.

The Conservatives received 368 seats out of 650 according to the polls by BBC, ITV and Sky News, with Labour lagging far behind with 191.

Actual results...

Israeli Society

First Israeli cycling team in Tour de France will promote ‘Start-Up Nation’

(December 12, 2019 / JNS) Israel Cycling Academy (ICA) just announced a partnership with Start-Up Nation Central (SNC), a Tel Aviv-based nonprofit that connects international companies with Israeli innovation.

Under the name “Israel Start-Up Nation,” the team will compete on cycling’s biggest stage as a new entrant in the World Tour.

As a...

Antisemitism

Trump targets anti-Semitism, boycotts against Israel on college campuses

President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that would cut federal funding to colleges and universities that don't curb anti-Semitism against Jewish students.

Trump's new order is set to hit the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement head-on. It invoked Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to fight anti-Semitic rhetoric on...

US-Israel Relationship

At Hanukkah party, Trump signs controversial executive order on anti-Semitism

WASHINGTON — Flanked by evangelical Christian leaders, Jewish members of his administration, and even a few House Democrats, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that would target alleged anti-Semitism — primarily in the form of Israel boycotts — on college campuses.

At the annual White House Hanukkah Party, Trump put...

United Nations (UN)

Danon invites ‘dozens’ of UN ambassadors to tour the City of David

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon brought "dozens" of UN ambassadors as guests with him to visit the City of David to demonstrate the Jewish's peoples ancient roots in Israel in front of the world leaders Wednesday afternoon.

Danon lead the group of diplomats through the city to tour the three-thousand-year-old archaeological...

Palestinian Authority

Egyptian official on Palestinian TV denies Jewish history in Israel

An Egyptian official has accused Israeli Jews of falsifying Jewish links to the land of Israel.

Speaking in an interview on PA TV, Egyptian Foreign Affairs Council member and former Foreign Minister’s aide Raja Ahmed Hassan claimed that Jews forged historical artifacts in a bid to construct a false narrative over Jewish ties to the land of...

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS)

Austrian parliament sets stage for overwhelming condemnation of BDS

The Austrian parliament is expected to unanimously pass a resolution against “Israel-related anti-Semitism” that calls on the government to condemn the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

On Wednesday, all five parties represented in Austria’s National Council — including the Greens and the far-right Freedom Party — agreed to...

Iran

U.S. Turns Up Pressure on Iran With Sanctions on Transportation Firms

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Wednesday that the United States plans to impose new sanctions on Iran’s largest shipping company and a major airline for what he said were their roles in transporting material for the country’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

“Today’s designations put the world on notice: Those who...