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.

Hezbollah

Hezbollah: Our Precision Missiles Can Hit Anywhere in Israel

In a short video clip released on social media early Sunday morning, Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist organization Hezbollah claimed that it can hit any target in Israel with precision missiles.

In the video, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah can be heard saying: “Today, we can not only hit the city of Tel Aviv but also, if God wills it, and with his...

Turkey

Turkey’s Airstrikes in Northern Iraq Threaten Christian Villages

Civilians have been killed and villagers threatened by Turkey’s widespread airstrikes in northern Iraq. Ankara claims to be fighting “terrorists” but has used disproportionate force. Activists fear that Christian minorities, already threatened by Turkey’s invasions of northern Syria, will have to flee again.

The United States Commission on...

US-Israel Relationship

Israel-US Defense Tech Cooperation May Soon Get a Big Congressional Boost

A bipartisan effort is making its way through the US Congress that could see new support for Israel-US defense cooperation. It is a unique effort that now includes both a bill in the Senate called the United States-Israel Military Capability Act of 2020 and H.R. 7148 in the House of Representatives “to establish a US-Israel Operations-Technology...

In The News

Germany Doubles Pledge to Auschwitz-Birkenau Preservation Fund

Germany has increased its pledge towards a fund supporting the preservation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp, doubling the amount of 60 million euros the country had previously pledged in December, to 120 million euros. 

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas joined Piotr M.A. Cywinski, Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau...

Iran

UN Nuclear Watchdog Passes Resolution Criticizing Iran Over Lack of Access to Two Sites

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors has passed a resolution condemning Iran, AFP reported on Friday, citing diplomatic sources.
The resolution, first of the kind to pass since 2012, urges Iran to grant the IAEA access to two suspected nuclear sites to clarify whether undeclared activity took place there in the early...

Syria

Syrian Chemical Weapons Agency Sought Illicit WMD Tech in Germany

Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), an agency the US government says builds chemical weapons for the regime of Bashar Assad, made attempts last year to obtain illegal weapons of mass destruction technology in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

According to an eye-popping section reviewed by The Jerusalem Post in the new...

Holocaust

Portugal’s Parliament Recognizes Consul Who Saved Thousands From Nazis

Portugal’s parliament unanimously approved a bill last week to posthumously honor former Bordeaux Consul General Aristides de Sousa Mendes with a disembodied tomb at the National Pantheon. Mendes is credited with saving thousands of lives, including approximately 10,000 Jews, by directly disobeying orders and issuing thousands of visas to those...

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...