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.

In The News

Iraq: Rockets Target US Embassy In Baghdad, Security Sources Say

02/22/2021
The attack is the third in a week to target Western diplomatic, military or commercial installations in Iraq

A volley of rockets on Monday targeted the high-security zone in the Iraqi capital that is home to the US embassy, the military and security sources said as cited by AFP.
The attack is the third in a week to target Western...

In The News

UN Set To Elect Syria To Top Post In Human Rights Forum

02/23/2021
The announcement came on the same day that Damascus was said to likely be guilty of genocide

Syria, which has fought a long and bloody civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions, was recently elected to a United Nations senior post on a "decolonization" committee, charged with upholding human rights...

Iran

Iran Officially Begins Restricting UN Nuclear Watchdog Inspectors

02/22/2021
Tehran says footage from nuclear facilities will be withheld from IAEA, handed over later if sanctions lifted

Iran began its official ban on snap International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of its nuclear facilities according to state TV Tuesday, as it escalates the pressure on European countries and US President Joe...

In The News

IDF Thwarts Threat To Navy

02/22/2021

The IDF thwarted naval activity that posed a potential threat to vessels of the Israeli Navy on Monday morning, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit announced later in the day. The incident reportedly occurred near the coast of the Gaza Strip.

"The IDF will continue to act against dangerous threats in the naval space," said the unit.
...

In The News

Israel’s Defense Ministry Signs Contract To Buy 2 New Tankers From Boeing

02/22/2021

A week after a ministerial committee approved the Israeli Air Force's (IAF) major procurement deal, the Defense Ministry said on Monday that it signed a letter of acceptance to buy two tankers.

The Boeing KC-46a aerial refueling tankers are intended to replace Israel’s aging Re’em fleet, converted Boeing 707s.

The Defense...

Archeology

Mid-15th Century Esther Scroll From Spanish Empire Finds A Home In Israel

02/22/2021

A mid-15th century Iberian megillah of Esther - also referred to as the Esther scrolls - has been gifted to the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem.

The Iberian Esther scroll is one of the oldest surviving renditions of the biblical tale of Esther taking up her noble destiny to save the Jewish people from the evil Haman.
...

Palestinian Authority

Palestinian Authority Paid Terrorists Over $150 Million In 2020

02/22/2021

The Palestinian Authority paid over NIS 512 million ($157 m.) in 2020 in salaries to terrorists, prisoners and those released from prison, according to a Palestinian Media Watch report released on Monday.

The amount makes up 3.25% of the PA’s budget for last year, and is about NIS 5 m. ($1.5 m.) less than last year.

The total...

In The News

Israel’s First University-Made Nanosatellite Launches Into Space

02/20/2021

Israel’s first nanosatellite to be completely designed, developed, assembled and tested by an Israeli university launched into space on Saturday night, Tel Aviv University shared.

TAU-SAT1 took off right on time at 7:36 p.m. Israel time from the NASA launch facility in Virginia.

“We have now joined the ‘Civil Space Revolution,’...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

105-Year-Old Israeli Air Force Founding Member Promoted To Colonel

02/21/2021

Israel’s top military brass was on hand Friday for the promotion of Israeli Air Force founding member Alex Ziloni, 105, to the rank of colonel in honor of his “many decades of dedication to the State of Israel,” the IDF said in a statement.

Ziloni, who arrived in the country from Poland when he was just five years old and served...

In The News

Four Rockets Strike Iraqi Base Hosting US Contractors

01/21/2021
One person was reportedly wounded in the attack that followed a raid on an Islamic State hideout

At least four rockets hit the Al-Balad airbase north of the Iraqi capital on Saturday, as security sources said that a local contractor for a US company managing Iraq's F-16s was wounded, according to AFP.
No group has yet claimed...

In The News

Israeli, Moroccan Students To Learn About Mutual Jewish History Next Academic Year

02/18/2021

Students in Israel and Morocco will be taught Moroccan Jewish history in school starting next year in a historical collaboration between the education ministries of the two countries, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Israeli Education Minister Yoav Gallant and his Moroccan counterpart, Saaïd Amzazi, agreed to establish a system of...

In The News

Israel’s First University-Made Nanosatellite To Launch Into Space

02/20/2021

Israel’s first nanosatellite to be completely designed, developed, assembled and tested by an Israeli university will launch into space on Saturday night, Tel Aviv University shared.

TAU-SAT1 is scheduled to launch at 7:36 p.m. Israel time from the NASA launch facility in Virginia. A special panel discussion on the launch will...

In The News

82 Years Later, Reunited Childhood Friends Torn Apart By Holocaust Zoom Regularly

02/19/2021

Two Jewish friends from Berlin who believed that each other had been killed during World War II and the Holocaust recently reunited with the help of the USC Shoah Foundation.

After Ana María Wahrenberg and Betty Grebenschikoff said goodbye to each other in a German school year in May 1939, Wahrenberg’s family fled to Chile, while...

In The News

In Preparation For Israeli Embassy Opening, UAE Delegation Visits Peace Center

02/18/2021

The first official advance delegation from the United Arab Emirates Foreign Ministry visited the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation on Wednesday as part of a wider visit to prepare for the opening of the United Arab Emirates embassy in Israel as early as April.

The Emirati delegation requested to visit the Peres Center for...

In The News

The Dangers Of Replacement Theology

02/19/2021
CUFI Coffee Break
In Romans 9-11, Paul tells a group of Gentiles that God is not done with the Jewish people. He explains that Gentile believers have become branches in a tree which was originally only made up of Jewish believers. God has not moved on from the Jewish people to the Gentiles, replacing Israel as His special people....

In The News

Equatorial Guinea To Move Embassy To Jerusalem

02/19/2021
The African nation of Equatorial Guinea will move its diplomatic mission in Israel to Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday.
Netanyahu made the announcement following a telephone conversation held with Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
In a statement released by the Prime...

Iran

Iran Uses Server In Netherlands For Spying On Dissidents – Report

02/19/2021

The Islamic Republic of Iran used a server in the Netherlands to conduct surveillance on Iranian dissidents across the planet.

According to a Thursday report on the Dutch public broadcaster NOS, the security company Bitdefender and the radio program Argos located the server in a data center near Haarlem that they said was devised...

In The News

US Says Ready For Talks With Iran To Revive Nuclear Deal

02/19/2021

The United States on Thursday said it was ready to talk to Iran about both nations returning to a 2015 agreement that aimed to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, seeking to revive a deal that Washington itself abandoned nearly three years ago.

The move reflects the change in US administration, with US Secretary of...

In The News

Israeli Girl Released After Crossing Into Syria

02/18/2021

The girl who crossed into Syria was set to return to Israel on Friday, with government hostage negotiator Yaron Bloom headed to Moscow on Thursday night to bring her back.

An Israeli doctor examined the teenage girl from the haredi town of Modi’in Illit in Moscow on Wednesday, and found that she was healthy and did not seem to...

US-Israel Relationship

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Speaks With President Joe Biden

02/18/2021

US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone late on Wednesday, nearly a month after Biden entered office.

Netanyahu was the first leader in the Middle East to get a call from Biden. The “warm and friendly” conversation lasted for nearly an hour, the Prime Minister’s Office said.

“The two...