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.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem zoo sends aid to help animals injured in Australia fires

(January 6, 2020 / JNS) Jerusalem’s Biblical Zoo announced on Sunday that it will donate burn creams, milk replacers, wound sprays and hydration concentrates to aid animals in Victoria, Australia.

The donation comes as massive bushfires rage across Australia, which have resulted in the deaths of at least 24 people since September, as well as of...

Iran

Iran withdraws from nuclear deal, plans to enrich uranium ‘without restrictions’

(January 5, 2020 / JNS) Iran announced on Sunday that it will enrich uranium “without restrictions” in what would be an apparent move to withdraw from the 2015 the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.

The development, reported by Iranian state TV, comes just days after the United States killed the...

Iran

Several wounded in rocket attack near US Embassy in Iraq

(January 6, 2020 / Israel Hayom) Three Katyusha rockets landed inside Iraq’s Green Zone close to the U.S. Embassy on Sunday night, the Iraqi military reported.

Three additional rockets fell in the nearby Al-Jadriya neighborhood of Baghdad, according to the military.

Six people were wounded in the attacks, according to Iraqi media reports.

The...

Antisemitism

Jewish man attacked in Brooklyn, injured by women yelling anti-Semitic slurs

(January 3, 2020 / JNS) Two female attackers yelled anti-Semitic slurs at a Jewish man in Brooklyn, N.Y., before shoving him to the ground when he tried to film the assault, law-enforcement sources and witnesses said on Wednesday.

The African-American women approached the 22-year-old Chassidic man and shouted at him “F***k you Jew” and “I will...

Antisemitism

Anti-Semitism grows in Jewish communities in New York City suburbs

MONSEY, N.Y. (AP) — For years, ultra-Orthodox Jewish families priced out of increasingly expensive Brooklyn neighborhoods have been turning to the suburbs, where they have taken advantage of open space and cheaper housing to establish modern-day versions of the European shtetls where their ancestors lived for centuries before the Holocaust.

The...

Iran

Pompeo on Qassem Soleimani strike: Iran now understands Trump will take ‘decisive’ action

By ordering the airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, President Trump has demonstrated to Iran's leaders that he will take "swift, decisive" actions to protect Americans, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday on "Fox & Friends."
Pompeo stressed that the Trump administration has shown military "restraint" in the face of...

Iran

US drone strike ordered by Trump kills top Iranian commander in Baghdad

A US drone strike ordered by President Donald Trump on Baghdad airport has killed a top Iranian commander, in a major escalation in regional tensions that have pitted Tehran against Washington and its allies in the Middle East.
The Pentagon on Thursday confirmed a strike killed Qasem Soleimani, who as head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps...

Iran

Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s shadowy general who wielded influence like a sword

TEHRAN, Iran — Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed Friday in a US strike, was one of the most popular figures in Iran and seen as a deadly adversary by America and its allies.

General Soleimani, who headed the external operations Quds Force for the Guards, had wielded his regional clout publicly since 2018 when it was...

Iran

US kills powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad airstrike

Qassem Soleimani, the powerful head of Iran’s Quds Force, was killed in an airstrike at Baghdad International Airport, Iraqi TV and three Iraqi officials officials said Friday.
The US Department of Defense confirmed it had carried out the airstrike.
“General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members...

Antisemitism

More than 30 corrections workers, cadets fired in West Virginia for Nazi salute

(December 31, 2019 / JNS) More than 30 West Virginia corrections’ workers and cadets have been fired after a photo surfaced of them performing a Nazi salute.

Gov. Jim Justice, who said earlier this month such behavior wouldn’t be tolerated, announced on Monday that following a review of a report on the matter by the state’s Department of Military...

Antisemitism

Volunteer group Guardian Angels patrols Brooklyn after anti-Semitic attacks

(December 31, 2019 / JNS) A private, volunteer-based and unarmed crime-prevention group said it would start patrolling parts of Brooklyn, N.Y., on Sunday following a string of anti-Semitic attacks in the borough.

Curtis Sliwa, who founded Guardian Angels in New York City in 1979, said patrols would start in the Crown Heights neighborhood of...

Israeli Society

Report: Israeli economy grew 3.3 percent in 2019

(December 31, 2019 / JNS) The Israeli economy grew by an estimated 3.3 percent in 2019, higher than forecasted, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday, according to a report in the business daily Globes.

The GDP growth in 2018 was 3.4 percent.

The Central Bureau of Statistics reported that the budget deficit of the government and...

Holocaust

Holocaust survivor is named 2019 ‘Texan of the Year’

(December 31, 2019 / JNS) Max Glauben, a longtime Dallas resident and Holocaust survivor, was declared the 2019 “Texan of the Year” by The Dallas Morning News on Sunday.

Glauben, 91, and his family survived the Warsaw Ghetto only to be taken to the Majdanek concentration camp, where his mother, father and younger brother died. By 1943, he was...

US-Israel Relationship

US deploys 750 troops to the Middle East following embassy attack in Iraq

(January 1, 2020 / JNS) U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday that 750 troops are being deployed to the Middle East immediately in response to Iraqi riots at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

Esper said in a statement that an infantry battalion from the Immediate Response Force (IRF) of the 82nd Airborne...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israeli military unveils its first combined-arms unit

(January 2, 2020 / Israel Hayom) The Israeli military on Wednesday unveiled its first combined-arms combat unit.

Formed on the orders of Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, the Shiloah Unit will combine infantry, combat engineers, armor and air power. One of its primary missions will be to test new war-fighting techniques,...

US-Israel Relationship

US officials call attack on Iraq and Syria ‘successful’

(December 30, 2019 / JNS) U.S. officials said on Sunday that airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia were successful and warned about additional possible action, reported Reuters.

The strikes were in response to the killing of a U.S. civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, officials...

Antisemitism

Germany: Over 40 gravestones vandalized at Jewish cemetery

Two suspects, aged 21 and 33, apprehended by the police, said to be known as far-right activists

More than 40 gravestones were vandalized at a Jewish cemetery in the German town of Geilenkirchen, Bild reported on Monday.

According to the accounts in the German media, two masked men arrived at the Jewish cemetery early on Monday, at around 3...

Archeology

2,000-year-old Hasmonean coins unearthed in Shiloh over Hanukkah

A wet sifting project in ancient Shiloh has led to the discovery of some 20 ancient coins this week as the world marked the final days of Hanukkah.

The find was made by the Associates for Biblical Research, directed by archaeologist Dr. Scott Stripling. It was announced on Monday.

According to Stripling, more than half of the coins date back to...

Antisemitism

Anti-Semitic vandalism found at synagogue and other areas in London

(December 30, 2019 / JNS) Anti-Semitic vandalism has been discovered at a synagogue and other areas in London.

Police are investigating the development as a possible hate crime.

Images of the Star of David and messages apparently blaming the Jews for the Sept. 11 terror attacks were found on various buildings, including South Hampstead Synagogue...

Iran

Iraqi supporters of Iran-backed militia break into US embassy in Baghdad

Ambassador evacuated; with cries of ‘Death to Israel,’ protesters vent their anger over US attacks on Kataeb Hezbollah group, seen as violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

Dozens of angry Iraqi Shiite militia supporters broke into the US Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday after smashing a main door and setting fire to a reception area, prompting...