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.

Event Recaps

August 5 – Spanish Why Israel?

On Wednesday, August 5th, our CUFI National Hispanic Outreach Coordinator, Rev. Peter De Jesus, conducted a Spanish “Why Israel” virtual event with our San Diego, California Hispanic Outreach City Director who went to Israel with CUFI in 2018. Within 24 hours of our virtual event, it received over 350 views. In addition to sharing our...

In The News

Shlomo Hillel, Who Helped 120,000 Jews Flee Iraq, Dies At 97

02/23/2021
Shlomo Hillel, a Baghdad-born Israeli operative who in the late 1940s and early ’50s used bribes, fake visas and a network of smugglers to move more than 120,000 Jews from Iraq to Israel, died on Feb. 8 at his home in Ra’anana, Israel. He was 97.
His death was confirmed by his son, Ari, who did not specify a cause.
Mr. Hillel was...

Iran

Khamenei Warns If Iran Seeks Nuclear Weapon, ‘No One Could Stop Tehran From Acquiring It’

02/22/2021
'Iran’s uranium enrichment level will not be limited to 20% ... We may increase it to 60%,' Khamenei said

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Monday that Tehran could boost uranium up to 60 percent if the country needed it, according to state TV, adding that Tehran would not yield to the US pressure regarding the...

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...