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.

US-Israel Relationship

Pompeo urges Arab states to abandon boycotts of Israel

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday called on Arab states to end their boycott of Israel and instead engage with the Jewish state.

“It’s time for Arab countries to abandon boycotts and engage #Israel,” Pompeo tweeted. “#MiddleEast divisions = instability.”

Pompeo included a link to a New York Times article about a gathering last week in...

Palestinian Authority

Mortar shell fired from Gaza strikes open field in southern Israel

Terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired a mortar shell at southern Israel Monday evening, apparently striking an open field in the Eshkol region, Israeli authorities said.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that one projectile had been fired from the Palestinian enclave, but didn’t comment on where it landed.

An Eshkol Regional Council spokesperson...

Israeli Society

Israeli exports reach a record $114 billion in 2019

(November 25, 2019 / JNS) Israel’s exports should grow to a record $114 billion in 2019 from $109 billion last year according to government data, Reuters reported.

The Central Bureau and Statistics and Economy Ministry assessed that Israeli exports stood at $84 billion during the first nine months of 2019—a 4.6 percent increase from the same...

US-Israel Relationship

US lawmakers call for a Food and Drug Administration office in Israel

A regional office of the US’s Food and Drug Administration should be opened in Israel, a bipartisan group of lawmakers said.

A letter sent Friday to the secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, said that “as a global leader in innovation, Israel’s world class medical research programs have spurred...

Terrorism

Turkey to start testing Russian S-400 defense system – report

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish media says Turkey is poised to begin testing Russian-made S-400 air defense systems purchased from Moscow, despite threats of sanctions from the United States.

The Milliyet newspaper, which has close links to the government, said Monday that the military is planning to test the S-400s that are currently deployed at an...

US-Israel Relationship

Top US general meets Israeli brass amid Iran tensions

The top US general is visiting Israel for meetings with top military leaders, the latest in a series of high-level military meetings amid heightened tensions with Iran.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley met Sunday with his Israeli counterpart Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi.

Israel’s military said in a statement that Milley’s visit was...

Antisemitism

Jewish man hit on Brooklyn sidewalk in unprovoked attack

(November 22, 2019 / JNS) Surveillance camera footage from Thursday night shows a man hitting an Orthodox Jew on a sidewalk in Brooklyn, N.Y., CBS New York reported.

The attack took place shortly before midnight on the corner of Sanford Street near Willoughby Avenue in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Footage shows a stranger...

Israeli Society

‘Woodstock meets the Bible’ as tens of thousands flock to Hebron for Chayei Sarah pilgrimage

(November 24, 2019 / JNS) Jews from around the world made a pilgrimage to the city of Hebron in Judea and Samaria over the weekend to pay homage to the Jewish biblical matriarch Sarah, whose death led to the purchase by her husband Abraham of a burial plot in Hebron, a transaction recounted in last week’s Torah portion of Chayei Sarah.

An...

Iran

Iran Warns Israel, U.S., Saudi Arabia: Cross Red Lines and We Will Destroy You

Iran will destroy the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia if they cross Tehran's red lines, the head of the elite Revolutionary Guards Hossein Salami said in a televised speech on Monday.

"We have shown restraint ... we have shown patience towards the hostile moves of America, the Zionist regime (Israel) and Saudi Arabia against the Islamic...

Antisemitism

Reward offered for leads in stabbing of Jewish man near synagogue in Monsey, N.Y.

(November 21, 2019 / JNS) Security was increased on Thursday in the New York hamlet of Monsey, about 30 miles north of New York City, where an Orthodox Jewish man was stabbed multiple times a day earlier while on his way to synagogue.

The Anti-Defamation League said it is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or...

US-Israel Relationship

Pentagon, State Dep’t, U.S. Evangelicals and Israel Battle Over Lebanese Army Aid

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is sending mixed signals on the issue of U.S. security assistance to Lebanon. In recent days, senior officials within the administration confirmed that $105 million of aid to Lebanon has been put on hold by the White House. Earlier this month, however, the State Department’s assistant secretary for Near East...

Israeli Technology

TIME magazine includes Israeli-water technology in top 100 inventions of 2019

(November 21, 2019 / JNS) A machine that makes safe, clean drinking water out of ambient air—manufactured by the Israel-based company of Watergen—was included in Time magazine’s list in 2019 of the top 100 inventions published on Nov. 21.

Resembling a typical water cooler and designed especially for homes and offices, the machine, which is named...

Antisemitism

Former Labour MP denounces party as ‘institutionally anti-Semitic’; Jews were ‘bullied’ out

(November 21, 2019 / JNS) A former British Labour MP denounced the party for being “institutionally anti-Semitic” and its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, as unfit to be Britain’s next prime minister during her speech Thursday morning at the Anti-Defamation League’s “Never Is Now” summit.

Joan Ryan left the Labour Party in February, after being a member...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Anti-Israel protesters shout down, resort to violence at York University IDF reservist event

(November 21, 2019 / JNS) An anti-Israel group at York University in Toronto, Canada, disrupted a Wednesday-night event organized by Jewish students that featured talks by reservists from the Israel Defense Forces, who came to speak about their experiences in the army and offer information about Israel.

Their visit sparked a “no killers on...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Photos show alleged Quds Force headquarters destroyed in IDF strikes

Satellite images released Wednesday night show the destruction of two suspected Iranian headquarters around Damascus that were hit in Israeli airstrikes earlier in the day in response to a rocket attack on northern Israel on Tuesday.

The photographs, distributed by the private Israeli intelligence firm ImageSat International, show two buildings...

Palestinian Authority

Netherlands cuts aid to Palestinian Authority over terrorist salaries

The Dutch government has cut funding for the Palestinian Authority over its salaries to terrorists serving time in Israeli jails.

The aid ministry announced the move Wednesday during annual budget talks.

In 2017, the Palestinian Authority paid about $198 million to a fund for the families of terrorists killed during their attacks and about $160...

Antisemitism

Roughly one quarter of Europeans are anti-Semites, new ADL poll shows

(November 21, 2019 / JNS) Approximately one in four Europeans holds anti-Semitic views, according to a global 2019 poll released by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Thursday.

The results were particularly alarming with regard to Eastern and Central Europe, where the study found a significant increase in anti-Semitic beliefs linked to old...

Iran

Triggered by rising gas prices, Iranian protesters call on regime to end support for global terror

(November 20, 2019 / JNS) Thousands of protesters feeling financially squeezed in Iran have taken to the streets in numerous cities across the country to protest the ruling elite’s economic policies. While the protests have been blamed on the government’s recent decision to raise the price of petrol by 50 percent, analysts contend that this is...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Blue Flag international air force drill hailed ‘most advanced’ to date

Israel completed its fourth international air exercise in southern Israel, Blue Flag 2019, earlier this month – a drill that planners have described as being the most advanced of its kind to date.

Towards the end of the exercise, held from Nov. 3 to Nov. 14 at Uvda Air Force Base, just north of Eilat, other jets from the Israel Air Force were...

Palestinian Authority

Netherlands halts aid to PA over payments to terrorists

The parliament issued a statement expressing its objection to providing ongoing funding to the PA when some of the aid was earmarked for terrorists "who commit terrifying acts of murder," the Israeli media said.

The move comes a day after the Dutch parliament passed a motion criticizing a recent European Union ruling that EU countries must...