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

Israel to Host Largest Event Ever on Combating anti-Semitism

Israeli officials announced Wednesday that dozens of world leaders will arrive in Jerusalem for the largest-ever gathering focused on combating anti-Semitism amid a global spike in violence against Jews.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said the fifth World Holocaust Forum, set to take place on January 23, 2020 at Yad Vashem, will coincide with...

Jerusalem

Jerusalem to host largest-ever event on anti-Semitism; Putin, Macron to attend

President Reuven Rivlin said Wednesday that some 30 world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron, will be coming to Israel in January to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Jerusalem, in what is expected to be the largest-ever gathering focused on combating anti-Semitism.

Rivlin spoke...

United Nations (UN)

UN ‘alarmed’ by reports of ‘significant’ death toll in Iran protests

The UN rights office said Tuesday that it was “alarmed” by reports that live ammunition was used against protesters in Iran and had caused a significant number of deaths across the country.

“We are especially alarmed that the use of live ammunition has allegedly caused a significant number of deaths across the country,” UN High Commissioner for...

Syria

Foreign minister blames Iran for rocket fire from Syria

Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday accused Iran of being behind the morning’s rocket fire from Syria toward northern Israel, claiming that Jerusalem’s years-long campaign against Tehran’s entrenchment in Syria was working.

Israel’s anti-missile defense system intercepted four rockets fired early Tuesday from neighboring Syria toward the...

US-Israel Relationship

Report: Hungary blocks EU statement condemning US policy shift on settlements

(November 20, 2019 / JNS) Hungary is blocking a diplomatic effort by the European Union to issue a joint statement condemning the U.S. announcement on Monday that it does not consider Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria to be illegal, the Times of Israel reported on Wednesday.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has made it plain that...

Hezbollah

Members of Congress send bipartisan letter to UN, urging it to confront Hezbollah

(November 19, 2019 / JNS) A bipartisan group of 240 members of Congress have sent a letter to U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, calling on the international community to confront the terrorist group Hezbollah.

More than 13 years ago, the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1701 to end the Second Lebanon War between Israel...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israel Strikes Dozens of Iranian, Syrian Targets Following Rocket Barrage

"The attack was carried out in response to the launching of rockets by an Iranian force from Syria's territory into Israel, intending to strike Israeli territory," read the IDF statement, referring to a barrage of rockets launched toward Israel's Golan on Tuesday.

"We showed the Iranians we have the capabilities to react forcefully," said a...

Medical Advancement

Israel performs world’s first ‘artificial meniscus’ transplant

In Israel's latest medical breakthrough, the country's leading surgeons were able to successfully perform a new "artificial meniscus" transplant, making it the first country in the world to do so.

The transplant surgery could easily replace previous treatments, such as pain management and physical therapy, for people with damaged or torn menisci....

Terrorism

Four rockets fired at northern Israel from Syria

(November 19, 2019 / JNS) Four missiles were launched at Israel from Syria on Tuesday morning, according to the Israeli military.

The attack triggered sirens in the northern Golan and the Galilee region at 4:52 a.m., sending residents rushing to bomb shelters. Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system downed all four projectiles, according to the...

US-Israel Relationship

West Bank settlements not illegal, Pompeo announces in historic shift

In a historic reversal of US policy, the Trump administration announced on Monday that it does not view Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal. The policy change was announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington.
“After carefully studying all sides of the legal debate, this administration agrees with president Reagan,” Pompeo...

Iran

‘Today’s young generation will see the collapse of Israel and America,’ says senior Iranian cleric

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force said in a speech that aired on Iranian television earlier this month that the Iranian people’s confrontation with the United States will continue “until the leaders of the White House and of the Zionist regime are annihilated.”

Senior Iranian...

Antisemitism

Pope Francis condemns anti-Semitism in address from St. Peter’s Square

(November 15, 2019 / JNS) Pope Francis denounced anti-Semitism against Jews worldwide on Tuesday during his weekly general audience.

Addressing crowds in St Peter’s Square, the pope reflected on the lives of Priscilla and Aquila, a first-century married couple who accompanied St. Paul in his ministry and were among the Jews expelled from Rome by...

Jerusalem

Faroe Islands to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

The Faroe Islands plans to open an office for diplomatic representation in Jerusalem and intends to recognize the city as the capital of Israel despite objections from Denmark, according to the Danish-language newspaper Politiken.

The Faroe Islands is a self-governing archipelago of islands in the Atlantic Ocean, but is a part of Denmark....

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israel strikes Hamas after it fires two rockets at Beersheva

(November 17, 2019 / JNS) Israel struck several Hamas installations in the Gaza Strip on Saturday after two rockets were fired at the city of Beersheva from the coastal territory, setting off warning sirens.

According to Israeli military sources, the country’s Iron Dome air-defense system downed both rockets. At least eight people suffered light...

US-Israel Relationship

U.S. Air Force chief David Goldfein visits Israel

The Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, David Goldfein, visited Israel.
Goldfein was participating in the Blue Flag joint military exercise, a 10-day exercise in which 70 combat planes from five air forces fly against each other in 19 sorties across six different locations around the country. The exercise ended on Thursday and had gone on...

US-Israel Relationship

US, Israeli firefighters work side by side as rockets fall

(November 17, 2019 / JNS) As rockets fell on southern and central Israel last week, a team of U.S. firefighters worked side by side with their Israeli counterparts to extinguish brush and building fires, and deal with other emergencies.

The U.S. firefighters are part of the Emergency Volunteer Project (EVP), which trains U.S. firefighters and...

Antisemitism

Arrest made in egg-throwing attacks on Jews in Brooklyn

(November 14, 2019 / JNS) An arrest was made on Wednesday night in a case of egg-throwing attacks on Jews in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Mohib Hoque, 18, was apprehended and charged with three hate crimes for being part of a group of teens that threw eggs at a 50-year-old woman on Saturday, also the Jewish Sabbath, in the Borough Park neighborhood. She was...

Terrorism

Communities near Gaza nix school Friday over ongoing rocket fears

Israeli communities closest to the Gaza border preemptively canceled school for Friday, following multiple breaches of a ceasefire meant to end two days of fighting, local officials said Thursday.

Several rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza Thursday morning and afternoon, puncturing a tense calm and leading to fears of a resumption of...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

IDF launches fresh strikes in Gaza in response to rocket attacks

The Israel Defense Forces said it launched fresh airstrikes on Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip in the predawn hours of Friday morning, in response to four rocket attacks from the coastal enclave which violated a ceasefire agreement announced the day before.

Palestinian media reported that Israeli drones and fighter jets...

Iran

Rouhani warns Muslim countries against ‘friendship’ with Israel

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned Muslim countries against working with Israel, in a speech aired Thursday by Iran’s IRINN TV news broadcaster.

“It is a strategic mistake in the Islamic world when some see Israel as their friend. It is very unfortunate that some Islamic countries, that are supposed to be steadfast against their enemies for...