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

Netanyahu hints Israel behind strikes on Iraq, says Iran not immune anywhere

KYIV, Ukraine — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday hinted that Israel was behind recent airstrikes on Iranian targets in Iraq, stressing that the Jewish state will continue to act militarily whenever and wherever there is a need to do so.

“Iran has no immunity, anywhere,” he told reporters during a briefing in his Kyiv hotel, responding...

US-Israel Relationship

New York Governor Cuomo plans to bolster economic ties with Israel

The Empire State does the most business with Israel than any other state

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has plans to bolster economic ties with Israel despite already being its top trade partner, in order to make it a hi-tech capital akin to Silicon Valley.

Cuomo recently held a two-day trade mission to the Jewish state, where he said he would...

Terrorism

2 Israeli teens injured in car-ramming attack in West Bank

Two Israelis were hit by a car and injured on Friday while standing at a bus stop outside Elazar in the central West Bank, just south of Jerusalem, in what the military said was a terror attack.

A 17-year-old teenager was very seriously wounded and a woman, 19, was moderately hurt, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said.

The two were...

Terrorism

Cop injured in Jerusalem stabbing attack; 2 assailants shot

Two teenage assailants stabbed a police officer, moderately injuring him, in a terror attack in Jerusalem’s Old City on Thursday, officials said.

The assailants were shot by security forces at the scene. One of them was pronounced dead at the scene, the second was critically wounded and taken to the hospital, a police spokesperson said.

Graphic...

Antisemitism

Jewish millennials address ways to counter anti-Semitism online

A panel organized by the Israeli-American Council of New York brought four millennial leaders together in Manhattan to grapple with anti-Semitism on the mode they use most often: social media.

The event, which took place on Aug. 7, included opening remarks from Chelsea Mandel, JNFuture New York board member, and Almog Elijis, spokesperson and...

Antisemitism

San Francisco-area synagogue fire destroys building

A San Francisco-area synagogue went up in flames, with the back half of the building incinerated, Chabad.org reported.

According to the Hasidic movement’s website, Rabbi Raleigh Resnick of Chabad of the Tri-Valley in Pleasanton, was awakened by a call from the police at 1 a.m. and rushed to the synagogue to save the Torah scrolls housed there.
...

United Nations (UN)

In first-ever review, UN racism panel presses Palestinians on fomenting anti-Semitism

In two hours of presenting before the committee, the Palestinian Authority blamed Israel for its problems related to discrimination, devoting only a few minutes to its own policies and practices.

(August 14, 2019 / JNS) The United Nations’s anti-racism committee began a mandatory two-day review on Tuesday of the policies and practices of the...

Hamas

Twenty Yitzher families asked to evacuate homes due to fire

Some 20 families in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar have been asked to temporarily evacuate their homes in light of a dangerous fire in the area on Thursday. Two structures have already been destroyed by the fire.

Four fire engines are at the scene and more are on their way, according to a Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson.

Police added...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israel’s Home Front Command revolutionizes ability to respond to multiple national emergencies

(August 14, 2019 / JNS) Personnel from Israel’s Home Front Command walked on the stage in San Diego on July 10 and collected an award for something extraordinary. The personnel had turned the Esri Geographic Information System (GIS) software, which is used around the world, into a national command and control system, making Israel the first...

Antisemitism

Police arrest two youths for painting swastikas in Old City of Jerusalem

Two minors were arrested on Monday for spray-painting swastikas and other graffiti on the walls of a street in Jerusalem’s Old City, the Israel Police said.

The 16-year-olds are under investigation for suspected property damage and committing a crime with a racial motive and will be brought for a hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on...

Antisemitism

Rabbi assaulted in Berlin — second such attack in as many weeks

Berlin police said Thursday that they were investigating an attack on a rabbi, the second in as many weeks in the German capital.

Police said the victim, identifiable as Jewish by his attire, was pushed to the ground by two unidentified suspects while walking in the Charlottenburg neighborhood Tuesday afternoon. They said he was treated in a...

Israeli Technology

Germans flock to Israel seeking technology

According to IVC, deals with German involvment accounted for 30% of the number of European deals in the Israeli ecosystem in the first half of 2019.
"You don't have to go the US to find people and ventures to cooperate with. For me, Israel is Europe's Silicon Valley, so I decided to initiate this tour," says Kristina Sinemus, Minister of Digital...

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS)

CA State Board of Education Says Proposed Ethnic Studies Curriculum Will ‘Be Substantially Redesigned’

 

The California State Board of Education (SBE) announced on Aug. 12 that the proposed anti-Israel Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) will be replaced with an entirely new draft.

SBE President Linda Darling-Hammond, Vice President Ilene Straus and Board Member Feliza Ortiz-Licon said in the statement, “The current draft model curriculum...

Hamas

PA official: Iran helping Hamas rebuild West Bank terror network

Behind the appalling terrorist attack in Gush Etzion last week that claimed the life of Dvir Sorek, the riots on the Temple Mount during the Tisha B'Av day of fasting, and the infiltration attempts from Gaza that could have ended tragically had they not been foiled at the last moment, is a guiding hand originating in Tehran – senior Palestinian...

Hamas

Hamas threatens to rain barrages of ‘hundreds’ of rockets on Israel

(August 14, 2019 / Israel Hayom) The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, said on Tuesday that during the next round of fighting between Israel and Hamas the terrorist organization would rain “hundreds of rockets” on the Jewish state at a time. Hamas claimed in June to have overwhelmed Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system with...

Antisemitism

Brooklyn Jewish school installs bullet-resistant classroom doors in wake of mass shootings

An Orthodox girls’ school in Brooklyn has installed bullet-resistant classroom doors to keep out shooters.

Bnos Menachem in the heavily Hasidic Crown Heights neighborhood is the first of more than 50 Jewish schools and synagogues in Brooklyn to have the 150-pound metal doors installed by an Israel-based manufacturer, the New York Post reported...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israel bolstering defenses with new wall on Israel-Gaza border

Over the last 10 days there have been three deadly clashes on the border between the IDF and Palestinians

The Israeli military is bolstering its defenses on the Israel-Gaza border with a new addition to its security barrier.

Jerusalem is currently developing plans to build a massive wall in the northern section of the Gaza security fence in an...

US-Israel Relationship

Pompeo: ‘Clock is ticking’ on Iran arms embargo

U.S. secretary of state urges America’s allies to stop Iran from engaging in "destabilizing behavior," warning of a possible Mideast arms race after U.N. arms embargo on Iran expires.

(August 13, 2019 / JNS) Warning that sanctions and an arms embargo on Iran will expire in the coming months, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday urged...

US-Israel Relationship

US ambassador, Israel president pay condolence visits to family of slain student

President Reuven Rivlin paid a condolence visit Monday to the family of Dvir Sorek, the 18-year-old killed in a terror attack in the West Bank last week, calling the youth an “inspiration.”

Rivlin’s visit came shortly after US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman also paid a condolence call to the family in the settlement of Ofra.

Sorek was...

Israeli Technology

NEW ISRAELI SATELLITE AIMS TO DEEPEN UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE

The Weizmann Institute of Science has partnered with the Israel Space Agency to launch a new scientific satellite that could offer previously unseen insights into the Universe around us.

With a projected launch date of 2023 and weighing just 160 kg., the ULTRASAT satellite will be equipped with a telescope designed to operate in ultraviolet...