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

California man arrested after threatening synagogue mass shooting

(JTA) — A California man who threatened in an online chatroom to kill Jews and to commit a mass shooting at a synagogue was arrested.

Ross Anthony Farca, 23, of Concord, California, said in the chatroom on the video game platform Steam that he wanted to emulate the Poway synagogue shooter “except with a Nazi uniform on,” The Mercury News...

US-Israel Relationship

Israeli Cabinet lays cornerstone for ‘Trump Heights’ in special session

(June 17, 2019 / Israel Hayom) A special Cabinet meeting was held in the Golan Heights on Sunday to lay the cornerstone of Trump Heights, a new Israeli community named after U.S. President Donald Trump.

The groundwork on Trump Heights began a few days ago, and the sign marking the entrance to the community was unveiled on Saturday.

U.S....

Terrorism

Balloon-borne device found near community in Gaza border region

A suspicious package attached to balloons was found Monday morning near a community close to the border with the Gaza Strip, the Eshkol Regional Council said.

“A bunch of balloons attached to a package was found in an open area outside an Eshkol community,” the council said in a statement.

Police sappers were alerted to deal with the device....

US-Israel Relationship

House Armed Services Committee votes to continue security assistance to Israel, block F-35 jets to Turkey

(June 13, 2019 / JNS) The U.S. House Armed Services Committee passed a $733 billion 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Thursday morning that, if enacted, would continue security assistance to Israel and block the U.S. transfer of F-35 jets to Turkey.

The tally was 33-24.

The House NDAA is $17 billion less than the Senate version,...

Antisemitism

Is anti-Semitism becoming mainstream? Experts see alarming trend in media, campus and public life

(June 13, 2019 / JNS) Moderating a panel in Jerusalem this week titled “The Mainstreaming of Anti-Semitism: The Media, BDS and Celebrated Bigotry,” David Hazony, executive director of the Israel Innovation Fund, analyzed the issue right off the bat: “What you are seeing on campuses is only a thin slice of the anti-Semitic beast that has emerged...

Israeli Society

Israeli company Fiverr stock spikes 90% on first day of trading on the NYSE

The share price of Israeli online freelancer platform Fiverr rose 90% on Thursday, its first day of trading on Wall Street.

began trading on the New York Stock Exchange at a value of $650 million. The company announced that its Initial Public Offering (IPO) was being held at $21 per share on the NYSE and the share will trade under the FVRR...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

IDF braces for violent protests on Gaza border

Israel struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip early Thursday morning after the launching of a rocket towards Israeli border communities.

"The IDF said fighter jets “attacked an underground terrorist infrastructure on a military compound belonging to the Hamas terror group in the southern Gaza Strip. The attack was carried out in response to the...

Hamas

Rocket fired from Gaza strikes school building in southern Israel

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A rocket fired from Gaza hit a school building in the southern Israeli city of Sderot on Thursday evening.

The building, identified as a Jewish religious school, was damaged but no injuries were reported. It was reported to be empty at the time of impact and was fortified against rockets.

No one has taken responsibility for...

Antisemitism

Bipartisan resolution condemning anti-Semitism unanimously passes Senate

(June 13, 2019 / JNS) The U.S. Senate unanimously passed on Thursday a bipartisan resolution, introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), condemning anti-Semitism.

“‘In the United States, Jews have suffered from systematic discrimination in the form of exclusion from home ownership in certain neighborhoods, prohibition from...

Israeli Society

Car maker opens research center in Tel Aviv as ‘lifeblood of future Ford’

Ford Motor Company on Wednesday launched a research center in Tel Aviv to help the US car maker stay abreast of cutting-edge automotive technologies.

The Ford Research Center Israel will focus on identifying technology partners for the firm in the areas of connectivity, sensors, in-vehicle monitoring, and cybersecurity, and will serve as a...

Hamas

Man seriously hurt in Jerusalem knife attack released from hospital

An Israeli man who sustained life-threatening stab wounds in a terror attack in Jerusalem’s Old City last month was released from a Jerusalem hospital on Wednesday, vowing to reporters, “We will not be afraid.”

Gavriel Lavi, 47, said he struggled to remember the details of the stabbing attack at Damascus Gate in the capital on May 31, but...

US-Israel Relationship

Toronto Raptors Jewish co-owner says team will visit Israel if it wins NBA championship

(JTA) — The Toronto Raptors are one win away from the NBA championship — and a free trip to Israel.

The team’s Jewish billionaire co-owner, Larry Tanenbaum, said he will bring the club to visit if it wins the title.

The Raptors are up 3 games to 1 in the best-of-7 Finals over the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors. But the...

Antisemitism

Army ROTC cadet kicked out over neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic online posts

(JTA) — A cadet in the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps was kicked out of her unit at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte after posting neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic content online.

Martha Gerdes also tweeted tacit support for the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue building in Pittsburgh that which left 11 Jewish worshippers dead.

“I...

Israeli Society

Research finds Israel has world’s healthiest diet

Research carried out by Dr Christopher Murray, Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington in the US has found that Israel has the world's healthiest diet, or to be more precise, the world's least unhealthy diet. The results of the study entitled the 'Global Burden of Disease' were published in the UK...

Hamas

IAF strikes underground Hamas target after Palestinians fire rocket into Israel

Israeli aircraft hit a Hamas underground facility in the Gaza Strip early Thursday after a rocket fired at southern Israel was shot down in the first such attack since Israel and terror groups in the coastal enclave fought a vicious two-day battle last month.

The Israel Defense Forces said its fighter jets bombed “underground terror...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israel scrambles jets as drone from Lebanon enters Israeli airspace, turns back

A small drone penetrated Israeli airspace from Lebanon on Wednesday afternoon, the army said, prompting the air force to scramble fighter jets.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the aircraft quickly returned to Lebanese territory.

“Moments ago, IDF troops spotted a drone from Lebanese territory that entered the airspace of the State of...

Antisemitism

DC suburb cancels screening of anti-Israel film

WASHINGTON (JTA) — A Washington, D.C., suburb has canceled for now the screening of an anti-Israel film narrated by Roger Waters as part of a free documentary series.

Thursday’s proposed screening of ‘The Occupation of the American Mind’ in the Takoma Park Community Center in Maryland as part of the “We Are Takoma” series has “spurred expressions...

US-Israel Relationship

US reps introduce bipartisan bill to purchase Iron Dome air-defense system

(June 11, 2019 / JNS) U.S. Reps. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) and Representative Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) introduced on Monday the U.S.-Israel Indirect Fire Protection Act of 2019 to authorize the Secretary of the Army to procure for the U.S. military two Iron Dome short-range air-defense-system batteries.

“Iron Dome is a proven defense system that will...

Palestinian Authority

Palestinian sheikh says ‘army of Islam’ will set out from Jerusalem to conquer to world

(June 12, 2019 / MEMRI) A Palestinian sheikh said during an address at the Al-Aqsa mosque uploaded to the internet in June that Jerusalem is the “heartland” where the banners of the caliphate will flutter, where military convoys and brigades will assemble, and where policies will be designed to herald the “dawn of justice” and the birth of the...

United Nations (UN)

For first time at UN, India votes with Israel and against group with ties to terror

(June 11, 2019 / JNS) For the first time ever, India voted last week with Israel at the United Nations against granting observer status to a Palestinian human-rights organization named “Shahed.”

The motion at the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) was rejected by a 28-14 tally.

“Thank you #India for standing with @IsraelinUN and rejecting...