ISSUES

At CUFI, we are focused on several key issues with the goal of defending Israel’s strength, security, and sovereignty.

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Hamas

Hamas official condemned for remarks calling on Palestinians to ‘cut necks of Jews’

Secretary-general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Executive Committee Saeb Erekat slammed on Monday Hamas leader Fathi Hammad after urging "seven million Palestinians abroad" to quit their "warming up" and "attack every Jew on the globe by way of slaughter and killing."

“The just values of the Palestinian cause include love for...

US-Israel Relationship

Betsy DeVos: Efforts to boycott Israel are a ‘pernicious threat’ in colleges

US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Monday that a movement to boycott Israel has become a “pernicious threat” on college campuses and is fueled by bias against Jews.

Speaking at a Justice Department summit on anti-Semitism, DeVos issued a scathing rebuke of the BDS movement, a campaign led by pro-Palestine activists calling for a boycott,...

Antisemitism

Trump administration and communal leaders to address DOJ summit on anti-Semitism

(July 15, 2019 / JNS) The “Summit on Combating Anti-Semitism” hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice on July 15 will features rabbis, media representatives and those in the legal profession alongside Trump administration leadership, including opening remarks by Attorney General William Barr.

Elan Carr, U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Two more F-35 ‘Adir’ fighter jets touch down in Israel, bringing the total to 16

 

(July 15, 2019 / JNS) Two brand new F-35 “Adir” jet fighters touched down at Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel on Sunday, raising the number of advanced stealth aircraft in Israel’s arsenal to 16.

Israel was the second country after the United States to receive the state-of-the-art fighter jet.

“The ongoing procurement of the Adir is...

Hamas

HAMAS USING WHATSAPP TO COLLECT INTELLIGENCE ON IDF MOVEMENTS

Hamas has once again been trying to obtain intelligence from Israeli troops stationed along the Gaza border using online messaging applications.

Posing as fellow soldiers, Hamas operatives contacted troops on the WhatsApp text messaging service and would ask for intelligence such as troop movements.

One combat soldier serving in the...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israel will deal a ‘crushing military blow’ to Lebanon if it attacks, Netanyahu warns

 

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will deal a “crushing military blow” to Lebanon if it attacks.

His remarks Sunday at the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem come two days after the head of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror organization, Hassan Nasrallah, said that Israel could be wiped out in a war...

Hamas

Senior Hamas official calls on members of Palestinian diaspora to kill Jews

A senior Hamas official has urged members of the Palestinian diaspora to kill Jews around the world.

Fathi Hammad, a member of Hamas’s politburo who is considered a hard-liner and is known for his fiery rhetoric, made the statement in a speech at a protest in the border region between the Gaza Strip and Israel on Friday.

“Our patience has run...

Israeli Society

GAZA BORDER FIRES: 138 INCIDENTS, 180 ACRES BURNT

KKL-JNF surveys the damage wrought by incendiary balloons in Gaza border region forests.

Since the return of the incendiary balloon arson attacks from Gaza at the start of April this year, KKL-JNF and Israeli Fire and Rescue Service firefighters found themselves fighting dozens of fires each day. With millions of children and youth out of...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israeli defense firms team up with Lockheed Martin to enter US market

 

 

IAI-Elta is offering its radar to the U.S. Army’s Patriot system; Rafael is marketing its advanced SPICE guidance kits to the U.S. military.

(July 10, 2019 / JNS) Israeli defense firms have teamed up with U.S. giant defense company Lockheed Martin to market advanced military technology to the American military market.

The...

Hamas

As Hamas loses tunnels option, terror faction takes to the air and sea

Gazan terror organizations are looking into armed drones and sea-based commando cells, while concentrating fire at Israel’s Iron Dome to overwhelm it.

(July 11, 2019 / JNS) The discovery of the latest cross-border Hamas tunnel this week stretching from the Gaza Strip into Israel is a reminder of the fact that Hamas will soon lose this attack...

US-Israel Relationship

Trump and Netanyahu talk Iran

 

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone about increased tensions with Iran.

“The two leaders discussed cooperation between the United States and Israel in advancing shared national security interests, including efforts to prevent Iran’s malign actions in the region,” the...

Hezbollah

Hezbollah says new US sanctions an ‘assault’ on Lebanon

 

The US added two Hezbollah lawmakers to its sanctions blacklist on Tuesday

Lebanon's Hezbollah said Thursday that new US sanctions on three of its officials- including two lawmakers, have widened Washington's assault on Lebanon.

Earlier this week, the US Treasury placed two Hezbollah members of parliament and another official on its...

US-Israel Relationship

Pence to rabbi of Poway Chabad: Your faith inspired the nation

 

US vice president makes unannounced visit to synagogue that was scene of deadly April shooting, is blessed by congregation’s spiritual leader Yisroel Goldstein

US Vice President Mike Pence paid a surprise visit on Thursday to a San Diego area synagogue that was the scene of a deadly shooting attack three months ago, telling the...

Palestinian Authority

Top Trump negotiator: US still regards Abbas as a peace plan partner

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Donald Trump’s top peace negotiator said the as yet unveiled U.S. Middle East peace plan includes the Palestinian Authority and its president, Mahmoud Abbas, as well as Hamas.

“Our plan right now is with President Abbas,” Jason Greenblatt said Monday at the annual Washington, D.C., summit of the Christians United for...

Palestinian Authority

PA increases salaries to terrorists in 2019 despite financial crisis – report

The Palestinian Authority has paid no less than NIS 234,172,000 (more than $65 million), or, on average, NIS 46,834,400 a month in salaries to terrorist prisoners (including released prisoners), according to a PA financial expenditures report for the first five months of 2019.

In research presented this week by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), this...

Hamas

False rocket alert jolts southern Israel for second time this week

Residents of southern Israel were roused Wednesday morning by a rocket alert siren after a projectile fired from the Gaza Strip landed in open waters.
The alarm was triggered in the city of Sderot and surrounding communities, which lie adjacent to the northern Gaza border.
"Following reports regarding sirens which sounded in the city of Sderot and...

US-Israel Relationship

U.S. embassy hosts July 4th celebration for first time in Jerusalem

(JTA) — The U.S. Embassy hosted its annual Fourth of July party in Jerusalem for the first time, days after its ambassador participated in the inauguration of a controversial archaeological tourist site in eastern Jerusalem.

Prior to this year’s celebration, held at the Jerusalem International Convention Center, the party for the fourth was held...

Israeli Society

4 security projects awarded this year’s Israel Defense Prize

This year's Israel Defense Prize was awarded to the IDF soldiers who exposed and neutralized tunnels Hezbollah had dug under the northern border; Mossad personnel involved in the "Iranian nuclear archive" operation in Tehran; the developers of the Spice 1000 weapons system; and the developers of a project for the Shin Bet security agency that has...

Iran

Top Irianian commander says country has ‘secret weapons’

 

A top Iranian military commander warned on Wednesday that the country possesses “secret weapons,” a day after Israel’s Foreign Minister said that the country is preparing for possible military involvement in any potential military escalation in the Persian Gulf, as tensions continue to rise between Iran and the United States....

Israeli Technology

Israeli tech to speed up NY public transportation

Commute times from one end of the Jerusalem Light Rail to the other fell from 80 minutes to 42 minutes after Israeli tech company Axilion Smart Mobility implemented its software, and now New York City is piloting the same technology on its 5th Avenue M1 bus route.

Axilion’s technology coordinates streetlights with road vehicles, prioritizing...