ISSUES

At CUFI, we are focused on several key issues with the goal of defending Israel’s strength, security, and sovereignty.

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Hamas

False rocket alert jolts southern Israel for second time this week

Residents of southern Israel were roused Wednesday morning by a rocket alert siren after a projectile fired from the Gaza Strip landed in open waters.
The alarm was triggered in the city of Sderot and surrounding communities, which lie adjacent to the northern Gaza border.
"Following reports regarding sirens which sounded in the city of Sderot and...

US-Israel Relationship

U.S. embassy hosts July 4th celebration for first time in Jerusalem

(JTA) — The U.S. Embassy hosted its annual Fourth of July party in Jerusalem for the first time, days after its ambassador participated in the inauguration of a controversial archaeological tourist site in eastern Jerusalem.

Prior to this year’s celebration, held at the Jerusalem International Convention Center, the party for the fourth was held...

Israeli Society

4 security projects awarded this year’s Israel Defense Prize

This year's Israel Defense Prize was awarded to the IDF soldiers who exposed and neutralized tunnels Hezbollah had dug under the northern border; Mossad personnel involved in the "Iranian nuclear archive" operation in Tehran; the developers of the Spice 1000 weapons system; and the developers of a project for the Shin Bet security agency that has...

Iran

Top Irianian commander says country has ‘secret weapons’

 

A top Iranian military commander warned on Wednesday that the country possesses “secret weapons,” a day after Israel’s Foreign Minister said that the country is preparing for possible military involvement in any potential military escalation in the Persian Gulf, as tensions continue to rise between Iran and the United States....

Israeli Technology

Israeli tech to speed up NY public transportation

Commute times from one end of the Jerusalem Light Rail to the other fell from 80 minutes to 42 minutes after Israeli tech company Axilion Smart Mobility implemented its software, and now New York City is piloting the same technology on its 5th Avenue M1 bus route.

Axilion’s technology coordinates streetlights with road vehicles, prioritizing...

Hezbollah

Increase of Hezbollah members in German state, says intel report

The intelligence agency for Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia revealed on Thursday that the number of Hezbollah operatives rose in 2018.

According to the intelligence document reviewed by The Jerusalem Post, the number of Hezbollah operatives climbed from 105 in 2017 to 110 in 2018 in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The report...

Iran

Israel’s foreign minister warns Iran veering toward war after uranium ramp-up

Israel’s foreign minister said Tuesday that Iran was sliding toward a war in which it would suffer heavy losses, and threatened that Israel could take unilateral action against the Islamic Republic if needed to keep it from getting nuclear weapons.

The comments by Israel Katz came a day after Iran said it had breached an agreed-upon limit on its...

Israeli Society

Israeli equestrian squad to compete in Olympics for first time

JERUSALEM — An Israeli team will compete in equestrian show jumping for the first time at the Olympics.

Israel’s four-rider squad, including a woman from New York and a man who twice represented his native Colombia, qualified Sunday for the 2020 Tokyo Games, narrowly defeating Poland during the Olympic qualifier in Moscow.

Along with Poland and...

Holocaust

Auschwitz exhibit examines faith as a mechanism for survival during the Holocaust

(July 1, 2019 / JNS) An exhibition that offers the public a glimpse into the role of faith as a mechanism for survival during the Holocaust opened at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland on Monday.

“Through the Lens of Faith” was arranged and organized by the Amud Aish Memorial Museum in New York, which was founded by the Jewish...

US-Israel Relationship

Trump: Israeli-Palestinian peace can only be achieved when I am president

US President Donald Trump, during the conclusion of the G20 summit in Japan, said that if a peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians is not reached during his presidency, then it will never happen.

"With me being president, if you don't get that deal done, it will never happen," Trump said.

This comes exactly one week after the...

Hamas

Synagogues are now conducting active shooter drills during services

(JTA) — When the ushers locked the door to the sanctuary, and the congregants prepared to flee the synagogue in preparation for a mass shooting, Rabbi Neil Cooper made sure it all happened before they had to take the Torahs out of the ark.

Ten minutes later the worshippers were back in the pews, doors unlocked, and getting ready to hear the...

Iran

Trump says Iran ‘playing with fire’ with uranium enrichment

Iran announced on Monday it had amassed more low-enriched uranium than permitted under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, drawing a warning from US President Donald Trump that Tehran was “playing with fire."

Tehran’s announcement marked its first major step beyond the terms of the pact since the United States pulled out of it more than a...

Palestinian Authority

Erdogan says ‘out of question’ to support US Palestinian plan

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it was “out of the question” for Turkey to support the US economic plan for Palestinians, in comments published on Monday.

The White House plan revealed last week calls for $50 billion in investment over 10 years in the Palestinian territories and their Arab neighbors.

“It is out of the question for us to...

Hamas

Passenger plane lands safely at Ben Gurion after blown tire scare

A passenger plane with a blown tire landed safely at Ben Gurion Airport on Monday after rescue services were put on high alert for a potential emergency situation.

Over 100 ambulances, firetrucks and emergency workers had been scrambled to the airport and Israeli fighter jets followed the Boeing 737 as it prepared to land four hours after taking...

US-Israel Relationship

Anti-Israel protesters end rallies at Amsterdam’s WWII memorial

AMSTERDAM (JTA) — Campaigners for boycotting Israel said they will stay away from this city’s World War II monument, where their supporters have staged incidents of anti-Semitic hate speech and violence.

Gustav Draijer, a leader of Holland’s Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, announced Sunday that regular, so-called one-man protests by...

Hamas

Israeli parliament holds funding talks for Gaza border towns affected by cross-border arson attacks

Although officially in recess, the Israeli parliament (Knesset) on Monday held a special session on funding for Israeli communities near the Gaza border hit by ongoing incendiary balloon attacks launched from the Gaza Strip.
The session -- titled “Budgeting the fortification of communities located near the Gaza border, including large cities” --...

Micro-History

Paris inaugurates square honoring Jerusalem

(JTA) –- Paris inaugurated a square named for Jerusalem, sparking protests by pro-Palestinian protesters.

Several dozen people staged a protest rally Sunday in Paris’ 17th district as Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon and Jewish community leaders applauded the unveiling of the sign honoring the Israeli capital.

Paris used to have a Jerusalem Square...

Archeology

US envoys lend a hand as Israel digs down in east Jerusalem

US envoys wielded hammers on Sunday to break open a new tunnel at a Jewish heritage site in east Jerusalem, signaling Washington’s support for Israel’s hold over parts of the city that Palestinians seek for a future state.

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman attended the event along with three other visiting American ambassadors as well as US...

Iran

Iran breaks through enriched uranium limit set in nuclear deal – state media

Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported Monday that the country’s stockpile of 3.67 percent enriched uranium has now passed the 300-kilogram limit set by the 2015 nuclear deal.

Citing what it said was an “informed source,” Fars reported that the stockpile was measured and found to have exceeded the agreed limit laid out in the so-called...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

15 killed in Israeli strikes against Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria

(July 1, 2019 / JNS) Israeli warplanes attacked multiple targets in Syria early Monday morning, killing at least nine Syrian and Iranian military personnel and at least six civilians, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Reports indicated tens of wounded.

Israeli jets and naval gunships targeted at least ten sites around...