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.

Antisemitism

Man charged in anti-Semitic assault amid spate of attacks in New York

(December 26, 2019 / JNS) A 28-year-old man from Miami has been arrested and charged with assaulting a 65-year-old in Manhattan on Monday, announced New York Police Sgt. Lee Jones.

Steven Jorge has been accused of punching the 65-year-old male, who was kicked after he fell onto the ground, said Jones, who added that the victim was treated at the...

Israeli Society

Israel’s Christian population grows to 177,000 citizens

The Christian population of Israel currently stands at approximately 177,000 citizens, or 2% of the overall population, according to data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) ahead of Christmas.

Last year, the population grew by 1.5%, compared to 2.2% in 2017. Over three-quarters (77.5%) of Christians living in Israel are Arabs,...

Israeli Society

Jewish Agency: 250,000 immigrants in past decade

In 2019 alone, 34,000 immigrants have come to Israel, up 18% from last year and one of the best years over the past decade.

More than 250,000 immigrants reached Israel from 150 countries in the past decade, the Jewish Agency reports. Russia, the Ukraine, France the US and Ethiopia were the leading countries in terms of providing immigrants to...

Jerusalem

Georgia set to open cultural center in Jerusalem

(December 27, 2019 / JNS) Georgia is set to open a cultural center in Jerusalem, becoming the eighth country to do so, its Israel embassy confirmed on Thursday.

A spokesperson for the Georgian Embassy said it has not been decided yet when or where the center will open, and that details are still being discussed.

“We welcome the center’s...

Terrorism

IAF strikes Hamas in the Gaza Strip, after rocket forces PM offstage

IDF fighter jets and helicopters attacked several Hamas terror targets in the Gaza Strip, including the organization’s military complexes, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said on Thursday. The attack was in response to rocket fire from Gaza at Israel on Wednesday night. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding an event in Ashkelon as the rocket...

Israeli Society

Israel, Greece, Cyprus to sign major pipeline deal in January

(December 23, 2019 / JNS) The governments of Cyprus, Greece and Israel plan to sign an agreement next month for a pipeline project to ship gas from the Mediterranean to Europe, the Greek prime minister’s office announced on Sunday, the AP reported.

The proposed pipeline system will take Israeli natural gas to the Greek island of Crete and the...

Micro-History

2019 immigration to Israel hits highest number in a decade

(December 24, 2019 / JNS) An estimated 34,000 immigrants moved to Israel in 2019—the largest number per year in the past decade, according to numbers published by the Jewish Agency.

The data includes those who immigrated during the period of January-November 2019 and the number of immigrants expected for December 2019. Through the end of November...

Israeli Technology

Israel unveils new laser system to shoot down Gaza’s incendiary balloons, drones

Security forces on Thursday shared details on a new laser system they hope will help quash the scourge of airborne incendiary devices launched from the Gaza Strip — carried by balloons, kites and drones — which have started countless fires and burned large swaths of Israeli land since they began being widely used nearly two years ago.

The system,...

US-Israel Relationship

Congress to Education Dept.: Don’t fund anti-Israel programs

Eight members of Congress called for the US Department of Education to prevent federally-funded Middle East Studies Centers from implementing academic boycotts of Israel.

In a letter sent to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the Congress members expressed “concerns that federally-funded Middle East Studies National Resource Centers (NRCs) are...

Israeli Society

Saudi journalist claims citizenship was revoked because of support for Israel

(December 22, 2019 / JNS) A Saudi journalist claims that his support for normalized ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel is the reason why the Saudi government has revoked his and his family’s citizenship.

Abdul Hameed al-Ghabin told The Media Line that he was not officially told why their citizenship was revoked, and the Saudi government has not...

Israeli Society

UAE foreign minister tweets article about Israel, Arab alliance

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for the United Arab Emirates, tweeted an article supporting an emerging alliance of Arab states with Israel. He tweeted from his personal account to his 4.6 million followers. The tweet repeated the headline of the article: “Islam’s reformation, an...

Micro-History

Lighting of National Menorah marks 40 years of publicly observing Hanukkah in DC

(December 22, 2019 / JNS) U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt helped light the National Menorah on the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, D.C., on Sunday—the first night of Hanukkah, as Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) commemorated the 40th year of the program that has been made...

Israeli Society

Netanyahu, Friedman light first Hanukkah candle at Western Wall

(December 23, 2019 / JNS) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman lit a menorah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Sunday night to commemorate the first night of Hanukkah.

At the lighting ceremony, the prime minister said, “2,200 years ago, the Maccabees fought the war of liberation for the Jewish...

Antisemitism

Greek fans burn Israeli flag at basketball game against Israelis

Fans of a Greek basketball team waved Palestinian and Hezbollah flags and burned an Israeli flag during a game with an Israeli team in Athens on Wednesday.

The incident happened when AEK Athens hosted Hapoel Jerusalem for the Gameday 9 match in Basketball Champions League. The Greek fans also put up pictures of Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian...

Israeli Society

Rivlin hosts bar and bat mitzvah children traumatized by terror attacks

‘The people of Israel are with you,’ President Reuven Rivlin tells the children in a moving ceremony.

As a society, we try to prevent children from witnessing tragedy, which is why it is so heartbreaking to see children who have experienced the horrors of terrorism.

Recognizing this, President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday evening hosted his annual...

Hezbollah

German parliament calls for full ban of Hezbollah activities

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's parliament passed a resolution Thursday calling for a national ban on the activities of Hezbollah and for the Lebanese militant group to be put on the European Union's terrorist list.

Mathias Middelberg, the spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives in parliament, said the joint resolution was agreed upon with...

US-Israel Relationship

Government confirms it will ban Israel boycotts by councils and public bodies

The Government has confirmed it will proceed with banning local councils from boycotting Israel, as the Conservatives promised in their election manifesto.

"One innovation this speech introduces is we will stop public bodies from taking it upon themselves to boycott goods from other countries to develop their own pseudo-foreign policy against a...

United Nations (UN)

U.N. Adopts Resolution Condemning Iran’s Violations Of Human Rights

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted its 64th Resolution on December 19 against human rights violations in Iran.

Sponsored by Canada, the resolution was adopted with 81 votes for, 30 against, and 70 abstentions.

Prominent Iranian human rights activist Hassan Nayeb Hashem tweeted, “The resolution concerning the situation of human...

United Nations (UN)

In First, Resident of Rocket-Stricken Southern Israel Addresses UN Security Council, Calls for Action Against Hamas

A resident of rocket-stricken southern Israel addressed the UN Security Council on Wednesday, urging it to take action against the Hamas terror group.

Adele Raemer — who lives in Kibbutz Nirim, adjacent to the border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip — was invited to speak at the Security Council’s monthly meeting on the Middle East by US...

Hezbollah

German parliament passes measure urging government to outlaw Hezbollah activity

The German parliament on Thursday passed a resolution calling on the government in Berlin to outlaw activities of the Iranian-backed, Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah.

The nonbinding motion was supported by the two major parties that make up Germany’s ruling coalition, as well as by a small opposition party called FDP, thus passing with...