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.

Iran

Israel, Arab states come together at conference against Iran

"I think that holding this conference, in which Israel, the US, various countries around the world and from the region sit down in one place ... and discuss one topic—which, in my opinion, is the most important for our national security—is a very important achievement. I very much appreciate the American initiative, which I have been associated...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israeli airports fend off 3 million attempted attacks a day, cyber head says

Israel’s Airports Authority, in charge of the nation’s international and domestic airports and its land border crossings, has to block three million attempts to breach its systems a day, mostly by bots, the head of cyber and information security at the authority, Roee Laufer, said.

In an interview with The Times of Israel and other reporters at...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

‘From the north to the south we are ready’ for war: IDF officer

With tensions high along Israel’s northern border, soldiers from the IDF’s 401st Armored Brigade are completing a large-scale drill simulating war with Hezbollah.

“This drill simulated what will need to be done during a war with Hezbollah,” Maj. Tsur Goldman of the 401st Armored Brigade told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

While most drills take...

Incitement

Anti-Israel content exposed in UN agency’s school textbooks, as lawmakers decry ‘systematic hatred’

Israel warns Syrian forces not to retaliate; former member of Israel's special-op counter terrorism unit, Aaron Cohen, reacts.

A newly declassified report is shedding light on anti-Israel material found in U.S.-funded textbooks used by the United Nations' Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) in Palestinian schools -- while faulting the State...

Hezbollah

Lebanese PM says Hezbollah can keep arms, as new government convenes

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday indicated that his new government would allow terror group Hezbollah to keep its weapons, which have been frequently used to threaten Israel.

Members of Lebanon’s Parliament began discussing the new government’s policy statement, which focuses on improving the country’s economic conditions.

The...

Israeli Society

The Israeli dogs that can detect cancer

Somewhere in Southern Israel, a first-of-its-kind venture trains dogs to locate early signs of cancer.

The name of the laboratory is "Dog Prognose". It allows anyone to send a saliva sample (in a small plastic container), and receive an immediate answer as to whether he has cancer. The cost of the test is NIS 399. Uri Bakeman, professional dog...

Iran

Ilhan Omar retweets Ady Barkan thread denouncing Nancy Pelosi, pushing Jewish money claims

Just hours after apologizing for making comments deemed anti-Semitic, Rep. Ilhan Omar retweeted a thread defending her claim that campaign contributions from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee buy support for the group’s positions.

Ms. Omar praised the writer, Ady Barkan, who told of being a staffer on a long-shot congressional campaign...

Hamas

Iranian commander threatens to ‘raze Tel Aviv and Haifa’ if US attacks

A senior commander in Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps threatened on Monday to destroy two of Israeli’s largest cities if the country is attacked by the United States.

“The United States does not have the courage to shoot a single bullet at us despite all its defensive and military assets. But if they attack us, we will raze Tel...

Terrorism

Shin Bet: Murder of Israeli teen Ori Ansbacher was a terror attack

The Shin Bet security service announced Sunday that the brutal murder of 19-year-old Ori Ansbacher was a nationalistically motivated terror attack.

The intelligence agency, which is running the investigation with assistance from the Israel Police, had held off on announcing a terror motive, despite proclamations to that effect from right-wing...

Antisemitism

Omar ignites new anti-Semitism controversy with comments on AIPAC

Freshman Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar ignited a new controversy on Sunday night when she suggested GOP support for Israel is driven by campaign donations from a prominent pro-Israel group.

Omar singled out AIPAC, one of the most influential lobbying groups in Washington, as the source of those donations.

Omar's comments touched upon a...

Syria

Top Russian official says ‘Israeli attacks in Syrian territory must be stopped’

Russian deputy foreign minister urged Israel to stop carrying out attacks on Syrian sovereign territory linking such incidents to an ongoing destabilization of the war-torn country, Sputnik news reported on Friday.

"With regard to the latest Israeli attacks, we said that such arbitrary attacks on sovereign Syrian territory should be stopped and...

Iran

Iran unveils new ballistic missile in secret ‘underground city’ facility

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Thursday unveiled a new ballistic missile with a range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), their official news agency Sepah News reported.

The move was the latest show of military might by the country as it celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution at a time of heightened tensions with...

Antisemitism

When anti-Semitism pretends to be just anti-Israel

Last week, I led 40 United Nations ambassadors on a trip to Poland to become witnesses to the Holocaust, and then to Israel to experience the miracle of the reborn nation-state of the Jewish people.

As the Holocaust recedes into the past, the world is witnessing a resurgence of anti-Semitism. Most Western leaders condemn this bigotry when it...

Iran

Israel said to find new Iranian precision missile factory in northwest Syria

Israel has discovered a new ambitious precision missile factory being constructed by Iran in Syria together with the Syrian government and Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, after Israel bombed and destroyed a previous one, an Israeli TV network reported Thursday evening.

The report on Channel 12 said the new factory was recently built near the...

Terrorism

Brutal murder of 19-year-old girl shocks Jerusalem

The young woman who was found dead in Ein Yael in Jerusalem on Thursday was 19-year-old Ori Ansbacher from Tekoa in Gush Etzion, Maariv reported on Friday, as the gag order on the investigation was lifted.

Ansbacher was a volunteer in the Yeelim youth center at Ein Yael, which is located in the Emek Refaim forest, she worked there as part of her...

Hezbollah

Hezbollah leader calls on Lebanon to accept arms from Iran to confront Israel

The leader of Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah said Wednesday that he is willing to ask Iran to supply the Lebanese military with weapons and aerial defense systems to confront Israeli warplanes and called on Beirut to accept the offer.

“Will the Lebanese government dare to accept the Iranian proposals? Why should Lebanon remain afraid to...

Hamas

IDF attacks Hamas position in Gaza after rocket lands in Israel

The IDF struck targets in the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket being launched at Israel an hour earlier on Wednesday night.

According to the IDF spokesperson, an IDF tank attacked a Hamas position in the southern Gaza Strip. Earlier tonight, rocket sirens went off in southern Israel after at least one rocket was launched at Israel from the...

US-Israel Relationship

United States purchases Israeli-made Iron Dome missile defense system

The United States has purchased Iron Dome systems from Israel for an immediate need of the United States Army, the Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday.

The decision was made as part of an agreement between the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense to fill its short-term needs for an Indirect Fire Protection Capability....

Iran

Iran to move weapons site from Damascus airport due to Israeli attacks: report

Despite the nearing end of the Syrian Civil War, the country remains a battleground for competing international players seeking to maintain their power in the region.

Following the wave of recent Israeli attacks on Damascus international airport targeting Iranian weapons storage sites, Iran is considering moving its weapons supply center far away...

Israeli Society

January tourism to Israel jumps by 11% compared to last year

The number of tourists who entered Israel in January of this year represented an 11% increase in relation to January 2018, and a 35% increase from January 2017, according to the Tourism Ministry.

A record four million tourists visited Israel last year.

In December, London-based company Euromoniter International reported that "The rise in the...