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.

Hamas

Projectile Launched at Israel from Gaza, IDF Strikes Hamas Military Sites

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked Hamas military sites overnight Tuesday in the Gaza Strip after a projectile was launched at Israeli territory and exploded in an open field, the IDF said in a statement.
“One projectile was launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory,” the IDF spokesperson said. “As a result of the launch, an...

Hezbollah

Finnish Amnesty International Board Member Says Israel Worse Than Hezbollah

An Amnesty International board member from Finland was criticized on Monday after denouncing Germany’s decision to ban the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.

Syksy Räsänen, a Finnish physicist with a long history of anti-Israel activism — including the publication of a book called Israeli Apartheid — commented, “Germany’s ban on Hezbollah is a...

Hezbollah

A UNIFIL Paralyzed by Hezbollah Serves No Purpose: Israeli Official

The Security Council must act to “significantly improve” the capabilities of the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, a top Israeli official said on Monday.

Speaking at a meeting held to discuss Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006, Danon called for the council to take steps to increase UNIFIL’s access...

Antisemitism

Sign With Auschwitz Slogan Displayed at Chicago Protest Against Stay-at-Home Orders

A sign playing off the Auschwitz slogan “work sets you free” was featured at a protest in Chicago where hundreds of demonstrators railed against state and local restrictions imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The signs called for Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to end his coronavirus stay-at-home order, which runs until May 30.

A...

Iran

Iranian Airline Designated for Terror Links Spread Coronavirus Throughout Middle East, New Report Reveals

An Iranian airline closely tied to the Tehran regime’s feared Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) played a major role in the spread of the Covid-19 virus across the Middle East, a special investigation by the BBC revealed on Tuesday.

Mahan Air continued to fly from its hubs in Iran to destinations across the region and further afield even...

Antisemitism

Top US Antisemitism Official Urges ‘Aggressive’ Response to Rise of Online Hate Speech During Coronavirus Crisis

A top US State Department official said on Monday he was “deeply concerned” by a sharp rise in online antisemitism during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“What we’ve seen in the past two months is really a wave — a tsunami, I might say — of antisemitism on the internet focused on the coronavirus,” US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat...

Hamas

Israel Hits Hamas Targets in Gaza in Response to Rocket Fire

Israel targeted three Hamas sites in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday night after a rocket was launched at southern Israel from the Hamas-ruled territory, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The rocket, which was fired at the Eshkol region, triggered a Color Red alert before falling in an open area, causing no casualties or damage, said the...

Antisemitism

Ohio Leaders, Groups React to Protester’s Anti-Semitic Sign

Ohio leaders and Jewish groups are speaking out against anti-Semitism after photographs from an April 18 stay-at-home order protest outside the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus showed a man holding an anti-Semitic sign.

State Rep. Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson, posted one of the images and spoke out against it on Twitter, while another photo showed a...

Medical Advancement

Israel’s Defense Ministry Hails ‘Significant Breakthrough’ in New COVID-19 Treatment

Israel's Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said that "a significant breakthrough" in developing treatment against the novel coronavirus was presented to him during a visit to the Israeli Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) on Monday evening.
"It is an antibody that attacks the virus in a unique way and can neutralize it in the body of...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

IDF Naval Commando Unit Keeps Oxygen Flowing to Civilian Care Centers, Stressing ‘the Need of the Hour’

The Israel Defense Forces’ elite naval commando unit, Shayetet 13, has been making nonstop deliveries of oxygen cylinders to civilian care facilities that were struggling to get hold of supplies in recent weeks as hospitals raced to stock up on their own oxygen tanks.

The Shayetet 13 Unit is the navy’s marine commando unit that operates at sea,...

Israeli Technology

Intel in Talks to Buy Israel’s Moovit Public Transit App for $1 Billion

Chipmaker Intel Corp is in advanced talks to acquire Israeli public transit app developer Moovit for $1 billion, financial news website Calcalist reported on Sunday.

Moovit has raised $133 million from investors including Intel, BMW iVentures and Sequoia Capital.

Officials at Intel Israel and Moovit declined to comment on the report.

Calcalist...

In The News

Israel Pledges $60 Million to Global Coronavirus Fight

In a conference call with global leaders on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged $60 million to the fight against the coronavirus.

“Israel, like all countries, has been greatly affected by ,” Netanyahu said. “Fortunately, our casualties thus far have been relatively low. This has been the result of early action to contain the...

Iran

Overwhelming Majority of US House of Representatives Urges Renewal of UN Arms Embargo on Iran

An overwhelming bipartisan majority of the US House of Representatives on Monday called for the extension of the United Nations arms embargo against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Foreign Affairs Committee Republican Leader Michael McCaul and Chairman Eliot L. Engel as well as Representative Stephanie...

Antisemitism

Spate of Anti-Semitic Incidents in Europe Draws Stark Warning from World Zionist Organization

Following a series of anti-Semitic incidents across Europe in recent days, World Zionist Organization (WZO) Vice Chairman Yaakov Hagoel on Monday called for urgent action.

“Anti-Semitic events have become commonplace for the Jews around the world. Unfortunately, for worldwide governments, the window of time to build a plan to eradicate...

Medical Advancement

Israel’s IIBR Completes Development Phase of COVID-19 Antibody

The Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) has completed the development phase of COVID-19 antibody or passive vaccine, according to a statement by the Defense Ministry.

 Defense Minister Naftali Bennett visited the Ness Ziona-based lab on Monday and was briefed by the research team, who revealed a breakthrough antibody that attacks the...

Antisemitism

Anti-Semitism Rages During Coronavirus

After a horrifying and deadly string of anti-Semitic attacks rocked the United States in December 2019, many people spent the first months of 2020 uniting against the scourge of anti-Jewish prejudice. The urgency of that fight has understandably taken a backseat to concerns about the devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. In the midst of...

Antisemitism

New Report Says Coronavirus Pandemic is Fueling Anti-Semitism

The coronavirus pandemic is fueling a rise of anti-Semitism around the world, according to an annual report published by the Kantor Center at Tel Aviv University Monday.

Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress (EJC), said in the first few months since the COVID-19 outbreak, there has been a rise in “anti-Semitic manifestations...

Antisemitism

How COVID-19 Has Sparked Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories

It’s easy to see how the coronavirus pandemic has sparked anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. They are a part of the classical paradigm; the Jews have again become what the Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni called “the plague spreaders of 1630.” This has happened every time there has been a plague, for example the Black Death, which swept through...

Antisemitism

OU Hillel Paints Messages of Love Over Anti-Semitic, Racist Graffiti

Sarah Livingston, Hillel at Ohio University director, found out via text from friend and dean of students Jenny Hall-Jones that the graffiti wall near Baker University Center “had some hate on it,” on April 27.

That hate, Livingston would discover, was 11 spray-painted swastikas, a depiction of Adolf Hitler and a racial slur on the student...

Antisemitism

International Scapegoating of Israel and Jews for Spreading COVID-19

As the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, examples of those seeking a scapegoat for the virus continue to proliferate. As ADL and other groups have explored, there have been numerous cases of xenophobia in the US related to the virus, particularly attacks against Asian individuals and groups. Internationally, there have...