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.

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...

Antisemitism

Israel to Host Largest Event Ever on Combating anti-Semitism

Israeli officials announced Wednesday that dozens of world leaders will arrive in Jerusalem for the largest-ever gathering focused on combating anti-Semitism amid a global spike in violence against Jews.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said the fifth World Holocaust Forum, set to take place on January 23, 2020 at Yad Vashem, will coincide with...

Jerusalem

Jerusalem to host largest-ever event on anti-Semitism; Putin, Macron to attend

President Reuven Rivlin said Wednesday that some 30 world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron, will be coming to Israel in January to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Jerusalem, in what is expected to be the largest-ever gathering focused on combating anti-Semitism.

Rivlin spoke...

United Nations (UN)

UN ‘alarmed’ by reports of ‘significant’ death toll in Iran protests

The UN rights office said Tuesday that it was “alarmed” by reports that live ammunition was used against protesters in Iran and had caused a significant number of deaths across the country.

“We are especially alarmed that the use of live ammunition has allegedly caused a significant number of deaths across the country,” UN High Commissioner for...

Syria

Foreign minister blames Iran for rocket fire from Syria

Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday accused Iran of being behind the morning’s rocket fire from Syria toward northern Israel, claiming that Jerusalem’s years-long campaign against Tehran’s entrenchment in Syria was working.

Israel’s anti-missile defense system intercepted four rockets fired early Tuesday from neighboring Syria toward the...

US-Israel Relationship

Report: Hungary blocks EU statement condemning US policy shift on settlements

(November 20, 2019 / JNS) Hungary is blocking a diplomatic effort by the European Union to issue a joint statement condemning the U.S. announcement on Monday that it does not consider Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria to be illegal, the Times of Israel reported on Wednesday.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has made it plain that...

Hezbollah

Members of Congress send bipartisan letter to UN, urging it to confront Hezbollah

(November 19, 2019 / JNS) A bipartisan group of 240 members of Congress have sent a letter to U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, calling on the international community to confront the terrorist group Hezbollah.

More than 13 years ago, the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1701 to end the Second Lebanon War between Israel...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israel Strikes Dozens of Iranian, Syrian Targets Following Rocket Barrage

"The attack was carried out in response to the launching of rockets by an Iranian force from Syria's territory into Israel, intending to strike Israeli territory," read the IDF statement, referring to a barrage of rockets launched toward Israel's Golan on Tuesday.

"We showed the Iranians we have the capabilities to react forcefully," said a...

Medical Advancement

Israel performs world’s first ‘artificial meniscus’ transplant

In Israel's latest medical breakthrough, the country's leading surgeons were able to successfully perform a new "artificial meniscus" transplant, making it the first country in the world to do so.

The transplant surgery could easily replace previous treatments, such as pain management and physical therapy, for people with damaged or torn menisci....

Terrorism

Four rockets fired at northern Israel from Syria

(November 19, 2019 / JNS) Four missiles were launched at Israel from Syria on Tuesday morning, according to the Israeli military.

The attack triggered sirens in the northern Golan and the Galilee region at 4:52 a.m., sending residents rushing to bomb shelters. Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system downed all four projectiles, according to the...

US-Israel Relationship

West Bank settlements not illegal, Pompeo announces in historic shift

In a historic reversal of US policy, the Trump administration announced on Monday that it does not view Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal. The policy change was announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington.
“After carefully studying all sides of the legal debate, this administration agrees with president Reagan,” Pompeo...

Iran

‘Today’s young generation will see the collapse of Israel and America,’ says senior Iranian cleric

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force said in a speech that aired on Iranian television earlier this month that the Iranian people’s confrontation with the United States will continue “until the leaders of the White House and of the Zionist regime are annihilated.”

Senior Iranian...

Antisemitism

Pope Francis condemns anti-Semitism in address from St. Peter’s Square

(November 15, 2019 / JNS) Pope Francis denounced anti-Semitism against Jews worldwide on Tuesday during his weekly general audience.

Addressing crowds in St Peter’s Square, the pope reflected on the lives of Priscilla and Aquila, a first-century married couple who accompanied St. Paul in his ministry and were among the Jews expelled from Rome by...

Jerusalem

Faroe Islands to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

The Faroe Islands plans to open an office for diplomatic representation in Jerusalem and intends to recognize the city as the capital of Israel despite objections from Denmark, according to the Danish-language newspaper Politiken.

The Faroe Islands is a self-governing archipelago of islands in the Atlantic Ocean, but is a part of Denmark....