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.

Israeli Society

Slain student Dvir Sorek, 19, had a ‘heart of gold,’ teachers say

Dvir Sorek, 19, was reportedly on his way to West Bank from Jerusalem when he was abducted, murdered

Israeli student and off-duty soldier Dvir (Yehuda) Sorek, 19, was found dead late Wednesday night at 2 AM near a settlement in the Gush Etzion area, reportedly with stabbing marks over his body. Medical services have confirmed his death upon...

Antisemitism

Proposed anti-Israel ethnic-studies curriculum in California has Jewish community on alert

 

(August 2, 2019 / JNS) Hostility towards Israel and its supporters across college campuses throughout the United States and beyond—well-documented for years—has been the focus of pro-Israel groups. Now the anti-Israel movement may be officially trickling down into the high school system of the largest state in America.

A new...

Holocaust

Holocaust survivor celebrates 104th birthday surrounded by 400 descendants

This is the picture of triumph over evil.

A Holocaust survivor celebrated her 104th birthday last week at the Western Wall in Jerusalem — and for the occasion posed for a photo surrounded by about 400 of her descendants, including her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Centenarian Shoshana Ovitz survived the Auschwitz concentration...

Israeli Society

Palestinian who saved Jewish kids after terror attack gets Israeli residency

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri on Tuesday awarded Israeli residency to a Palestinian man who saved the children of a West Bank rabbi in the aftermath of the deadly terror attack in which the father was killed.

Rabbi Miki Mark was murdered in a July 1, 2016, shooting. His wife, Chava, was seriously injured, and their two teenage children were also...

Israeli Technology

Israeli Amos-17 satellite successfully launched into space

Israeli satellite Amos-17 was successfully blasted into space overnight Wednesday from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

President Reuven Rivlin hailed the successful launch, saying it was a “morning full of pride,” and thanking those involved for their “important work for the State of Israel.”

The launch was originally planned for last weekend, but...

Hamas

Saudi, U.S. officials express concern over threat to maritime traffic in Gulf

Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih met U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Tuesday in Washington and said both sides expressed concern over threats targeting freedom of maritime traffic in the Arabian Gulf.

"The meeting... dealt with the two countries' concern over threats targeting freedom of maritime traffic in the Arabian Gulf. We...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israel navy leading large-scale earthquake recovery drill

The parochet- or "curtain" - that was meant to cover Theodor Herzl's coffin when he was buried in 1949 in the land of Isrel has been discovered in a Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) warehouse.

According to an article published exclusively on Wednesday in the Hebrew daily Israel Hayom, the parochet disappeared in 1949 after...

Iran

Michael Pompeo: Trump administration pressure is weakening Iran’s regime

The Trump administration has implemented an unprecedented pressure campaign on Iran’s leaders with two objectives: First, to deprive the Iranian regime of the money it needs to support its destabilizing activities. Second, to force the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the negotiating table to conclude a comprehensive and enduring deal.
The comprehensive...

Iran

A Malevolent Iran Hurts U.S. Friends in Iraq

Jonathan Spyer’s “Israeli Jets Appear to Have Struck Iraq for the First Time Since 1981” (op-ed, Aug. 2) offers a discouraging insight into Iran’s malign influence in the region, and the U.S. response.

One of the sites of the reported attack is Camp Ashraf in Iraq, which from 1986 to 2012 housed 3,400 members of the Iranian resistance group...

Iran

Iran unveils three new precision-guided missiles

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran unveiled three precision-guided missiles on Tuesday, with the defense minister saying they show the country is ready to defend itself in the face of US “viciousness and conspiracies.”

The new lineup of air-to-air missiles dubbed the “Yasin,” “Balaban” and a new series of the “Ghaem” were developed jointly by the ministry and...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

IDF arrests Palestinian men carrying guns into Israel

Israeli troops on Monday afternoon arrested two Palestinian men who crossed into Israel carrying two handguns and ammunition from the northern West Bank, the soldiers’ commander said.

An investigation is underway to determine if they were part of a gun-smuggling operation between Israel and the West Bank or, less likely but still possible, were...

Hamas

Shin Bet foils Hamas terror plot against Israel and Palestinians

In the past few weeks, Hamas military cells which were working under the direction of the military wing of the terrorist group in Gaza were uncovered by the Shin Bet in the West Bank. The cells were planning on committing terrorist attacks against Israeli targets and Palestinian Authority targets.

The planned attacks included kidnappings,...

Hamas

Guide raps Jordan’s ‘humiliating’ treatment of Israelis booted from Aaron’s Tomb

An Israeli tour organizer lambasted Jordanian authorities over their treatment of Israelis visiting Jordan last week, which he described as “incredibly humiliating” and “demeaning.”

Roni Ayalon has led Israeli groups to Aaron’s Tomb — on a mountaintop in a remote part of Petra — for the past five years, on behalf of Ashira, an organization that...

Iran

Iran said increasing Hamas funding to $30m per month, wants intel on Israel

Iran has agreed to massively increase its monthly payments to Palestinian terror group Hamas in exchange for intelligence on Israeli missile capabilities, an Israeli television network reported Monday.

The Islamic Republic is a longtime financial supporter of Hamas, the terror organization that rules the Gaza Strip and is committed to Israel’s...

Israeli Society

Israel welcomes 10% increase in tourists in 2019

Nearly 2.6 million tourist entries into Israel have been recorded since the start of the year, representing a 9.8% increase compared to the same period last year, according to new data published Monday by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

Building on two consecutive record-breaking years of incoming tourism, 2.587 million tourists entered...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

US-Israeli missile defense cooperation sends clear message to foes

Israeli and U.S. missile defense agencies just completed, together with their leading defense industries, a successful test of the new Arrow 3 interceptor. While the Israeli Air Force declared the system operational almost a year ago, these tests now serve as a clear indication to enemies — notably Iran — that Israel’s multi-layer missile defense...

Iran

Iran says it will further breach nuclear deal in one month unless Europeans act

GENEVA (Reuters) - Iran told European powers on Monday it would further reduce compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal in about a month’s time if they were still failing to protect it from crippling U.S. sanctions, reimposed after Washington exited the deal.

European signatories to the deal have so far been helpless to prevent U.S. President Donald...

Iran

Senior Iranian commander: The Islamic republic is on Israel’s borders

Iran’s front has extended to the Mediterranean Sea and the borders of Israel, a senior Iranian commander said on Monday.

“Our defensive depth has stretched to the Mediterranean Sea and our front has extended to the borders of the Zionist regime ,” Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Brig.-Gen. Mehdi Rabbani was quoted by Iran’s Fars...

Iran

UK joins US Strait of Hormuz mission; Iran slams sanctions

TEHRAN, Iran — Britain said Monday that it would join a U.S.-led naval security mission in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran’s seizure of merchant vessels has raised tensions with the West. Earlier, Iran’s foreign minister lambasted recent U.S. financial sanctions against him, calling the move a “failure” for diplomacy.
Iranian Foreign Minister...

Iran

Trump Administration Imposes Sanctions on Iran’s Top Diplomat

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration took the unusual step on Wednesday of placing sanctions on Iran’s foreign minister, essentially cutting off the clearest avenue for talks with Iran by punishing the man who negotiated the 2015 nuclear agreement.
Senior administration officials described the foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif — an...