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.

Holocaust

Portugal Finally Recognizes Consul Who Saved Thousands From Holocaust

Eighty years ago, a middle-aged, mid-ranking diplomat sank into deep depression and watched his hair turn grey in days, as he saw the streets of Bordeaux filling with Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis.
As Portugal's consul in Bordeaux, Aristides de Sousa Mendes faced a moral dilemma. Should he obey government orders or listen to his own conscience...

Antisemitism

Florida University Student Senate Votes to Keep President with Anti-Semitic History

The student senate at Florida State University voted on Thursday morning not to remove its new president, despite his past anti-Semitic posts.

The final tally was not disclosed.

Ahmad Daraldik was selected by the Florida State University Student Senate to replace its previous president, Jack Denton, who was accused of racism. Along those lines,...

In The News

4 More F-35is to Land in Israel This Summer, Including Experimental Model

While Israel’s skies are still closed to commercial traffic, four F-35i Adir stealth fighter jets will land in Israel at the beginning of August, including Israeli Air Force’s experimental F-35i that will act as a testbed for the country’s planned modifications.

Another three F-35is will land in Israel in November, bringing the Israel Air Force’s...

Antisemitism

Comprehensive Report Reveals Endemic Hate Education in Palestinian Schools

Palestinian children are being systematically taught to hate Jewish Israelis and violently resist a Jewish presence in Israel, a comprehensive review of Palestinian school textbooks has found.

The study, by Dr. Arnon Gross of the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, in conjunction with David Bedein of the Center for Near East...

Medical Advancement

Israeli Doctors to Blast Bacteria Into Orbit, Readying For Space-Based Medicine

An Israeli hospital is preparing to launch 20 million bacteria into space in order to carry out an experiment that it says will prepare for the medical needs of space tourism, and advance research to combat the “global health threat” of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

As soon as the weather clears over The Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, a...

Iran

Iran Claims Successful Test of New Naval Cruise Missile

Iran said on Thursday its navy had successfully fired a new locally-made cruise missile during war games in the northern Indian Ocean and near the entrance to the Gulf.

The test-firing comes as the United States is seeking an extension of a UN-imposed arms embargo against Iran, which is due to expire in October under Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal...

Hamas

Incendiary Balloons Plague Israeli land Near Gaza Border, Sparking New Fires

Footage showing the aftermath of an incendiary-balloon attack from Gaza on the fields of Kibbutz Nir Oz has emerged, as local volunteer and professional firefighters have been rushing to put out at least four spot fires in the Eshkol Region in the past 48 hours.

Eshkol Council Security Officer Ilan Isaacson said local volunteers stepped in to...

Antisemitism

Fountain in California Dedicated to Holocaust Survivors Smashed

A fountain dedicated to Holocaust survivors that also was used for ritual hand-washing inside a California cemetery was toppled and smashed. 

Police are investigating the incident at Santa Rosa Memorial Park to determine if it was a hate crime, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported. The vandalism occurred on Sunday night or Monday morning.

A...

Terrorism

EU Pulls Funding for Palestinian NGO Refusing to Disavow Terror

The European Union has pulled funding from a Palestinian NGO after the organization refused to sign an anti-terror clause in the funding contract.

On Friday, the EU wrote to the BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights to inform them that €1.7 million in funding for a three-year project, titled 'Mobilizing for Justice in...

Hamas

Israel Thwarts Hamas Arms Shipment to the Gaza Strip

Israeli naval forces thwarted a major arms shipment to the Gaza Strip by sea in a secret operation several weeks ago, the Israel Defense Forces revealed on Wednesday.

In what the IDF called “a significant operational achievement,” Muhammad Bachar, one of the two terrorists on board the boat and a key figure who has been actively involved in...

Syria

US Slaps Sweeping Sanctions on Syria in New Pressure Campaign

The US introduced sanctions Wednesday against dozens of individuals in Syria, including Asma al-Assad, the powerful wife of the country's President Bashar al-Assad.
"We anticipate many more sanctions and we will not stop until Assad and his regime stop their needless, brutal war against the Syrian people," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a...

In The News

UAE Foreign Minister Says Abu Dhabi, Israel ‘Can Actually Work Together’

As relations between Jerusalem and its Arab neighbors reportedly grow closer behind the scenes, UAE's Foreign Minister Dr Anwar Gargash said that his country and Israel "can actually work together" despite ongoing political differences.
The foreign minister made the overture during a historic conversation with the American Jewish Committee (AJC)...

Hezbollah

Lebanon: Hezbollah Chief Threatens Violence For Those Calling For Group’s Disarmament

"Our weapons will remain in our hands and we will not starve, we will kill you,” Nasrallah proclaims

If forced to choose between disarmament and starvation, Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorist group will pick arms -- and use them against those urging it to give up its weapons, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah proclaimed late on Tuesday.
In a televised...

In The News

Petition Against Freeing Murderers of Jewish-American Journalist Daniel Pearl Gets Over 10,000 Signatures

A petition being circulated urging Pakistani leaders not to free the killers of Jewish-American journalist Daniel Pearl has over 10,000 signatures and was praised by the murdered journalist’s father on Tuesday.

Pearl was kidnapped in Pakistan in 2002 while on assignment for The Wall Street Journal. He was beheaded by his kidnappers shortly after...

Syria

Ahead of New Sanctions, US Pledges Assad Will Not Secure ‘Military Victory’

The United States on Tuesday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that he will never secure a full victory and must reach a political compromise, on the eve of stinging new sanctions.
The war-torn nation has seen an intensifying economic crisis and on Wednesday the Caesar Act takes effect, a US law that targets companies that deal with...

Iran

German Intel Report Lays Bare Iran’s Attempts to Obtain Nuclear Proliferation Technology

Iran remains bent on developing the deadliest weapons on the planet, according to a German intelligence service report released Monday.

In a section titled “Proliferation,” the 181-page Baden-Württemberg state intelligence agency document reviewed by Fox News states that Iran, Pakistan, North Korea and Syria are "still pursuing" such efforts....

Israeli Technology

Building an Innovation Ecosystem in the Desert

Beersheba is positioning itself as a new innovation ecosystem alongside Tel Aviv, Prof. Dan Blumberg, vice president of Regional and Industrial Development at Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) said Tuesday.

Speaking at the CyberTech Live C4I and Cyber Event, he spoke of the collaboration between the IDF, industry, academia, and local...

Antisemitism

Jewish Cemetery in Poland Vandalized with Spray-Paint

A wall of the Jewish cemetery in Tarnow, a city in southern Poland, was spray-painted with the letters “AJ,” likely meaning “Anti-Jude,” or anti-Jewish.

The wall’s Star of David was painted over as well. Police are investigating; there are no suspects.

According to the cemetery keeper, Adam Bartosz, because the wall is brick, removing the...

In The News

Christians Help 1,000 Jews Immigrate to Israel Since Start of Coronavirus

A new flight bearing 57 new immigrants from the former Soviet Union arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport Tuesday morning, the latest in the ongoing efforts of organizations involved in aliyah to keep new olim coming despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The flight was organized by the Jewish Agency and paid for by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem,...

Iran

Released From Iranian Prison, U.S. Student Xiyue Wang Says He Was Held As A ‘Hostage’

Until his release in December, American student Xiyue Wang spent more than three years behind bars in Iran — not because Iranian authorities hoped to glean any information from him, he says, but because they believed he would be useful in their negotiations with the U.S.

Wang, a U.S. citizen and graduate student at Princeton University, was...