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.

Israeli Society

Netanyahu: Israel is in contact with six ‘important Arab, Islamic countries’

Addressing the state memorial ceremony for former Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is in contact with “half a dozen important Arab and Islamic countries."

The ceremony was held at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, the very same site, Netanyahu pointed out, where Eshkol brought the remains of...

Syria

Iran reviving maritime smuggling route to Syria using civilian firms

An analyst told i24NEWS exclusively on Tuesday that Iranian companies, sanctioned by the United States over ties to the Revolutionary Guards Corps, have recently begun unloading shipments at Syria’s Latakia port raising suspicions that the dormant maritime trade route is being revived and may be exploited for weapons smuggling.

The Mediterranean...

Antisemitism

Middle School Map Shows Israel Labeled As ‘Palestine’

A map that was displayed at a March 7 Georgia middle school multicultural event featured all of Israel labeled as “Palestine.”

The map was part of a table on Palestinian culture at Autrey Mill Middle School’s Multicultural Night in Fulton County; the map was not provided with any sort of context. The Palestinian cultural table also featured a...

Hamas

Senior Hamas member encourages children to join terrorist organizations

A senior Hamas member has encouraged Palestinian children to be martyrs and join terrorist organization in a video published on the Hamas public broadcaster in Gaza.

In the video, published by The Middle East Media Research Institute, shows the Hamas member as saying that they “will teach our kids in the kindergartens, the elementary schools, and...

Hezbollah

IDF says it has exposed new Hezbollah cell operating from Syrian Golan Heights

The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that it had exposed a Hezbollah terror cell established in a border village in the Syrian Golan Heights and vowed to prevent the Lebanese group from operating against Israel from Syrian soil.

The IDF said the cell was comprised of Syrians, but led by Lebanese and “masterminded” by a man it identified as...

Terrorism

IDF: Palestinian tries to stab soldiers in Hebron, is shot dead

Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian man as he tried to stab them in the West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday, the military said.

No servicemen were injured in the incident, the Israel Defense Forces said.

“IDF soldiers spotted the terrorist armed with a knife as he ran toward them. The soldiers pushed the terrorist back as he tried to run...

Incitement

Firebomb thrown at police post on Temple Mount as fresh violence erupts

A firebomb was thrown at a police position on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Tuesday, prompting officers to make a number of arrests and close off access to the holy site, which has seen soaring tensions in recent weeks over a long-sealed area.

The police had no comment on any injuries in the attack.

“A short while ago, on the Temple Mount, a...

Hamas

Hamas seems to ready for calm, but will Islamic Jihad cooperate?

Hamas did not stage riots or confrontations along the Israel-Gaza border on Saturday night, for the first in months of nightly incidents at the friction points along the security fence.

Earlier in the day, however, a mortar shell was fired at the Eshkol Regional Council and exploded in an open area; a cluster of balloons carrying the warhead from...

Antisemitism

Brussels Jewish museum killer sentenced to life in prison

BRUSSELS, Belgium — The French jihadist who shot dead four people in a terrorist attack at a Jewish museum was on Tuesday sentenced to life in prison by a Brussels court, after prosecutors branded him a “coward” and a “psychopath.”

Mehdi Nemmouche was convicted last week of “terrorist murder” for the anti-Semitic gun rampage in the Belgian...

US-Israel Relationship

Trump spending cuts leave military aid to Israel untouched

Israel can rest easy: The spending cuts axe being wielded by US President Donald Trump has so far spared military aid to Israel. Israel is due to receive $3.3 billion under the 2020 budget proposal that the White House sent to Congress yesterday.

The aid to Israel is set out in a memorandum of understanding signed by President Obama in his last...

US-Israel Relationship

Graham to push for US to recognize Golan Heights as part of Israel

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Monday told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he will push for the United States to formally recognize the Golan Heights as part of Israel.

Graham, Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman together toured the Golan Heights, a slice of territory taken by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day...

US-Israel Relationship

The pro-Israel blogger conference that has become a support group

Kasim Hafeez, a British Muslim and former Islamist who is now a proud Zionist who stands with Israel, will land in Israel this week for #DigiTell, a gathering of 100 pro-Israel bloggers and social network managers from all over the world.

“We are bringing together those who have fought this year against anti-Israel and antisemitic hate-writers...

Iran

Shi’ite militia leader in Iraq threatens U.S., slams ‘Zionist regime’

Two Shi’ite militia leaders spoke out over the weekend, with one threatening the US, and the other demanding American troops leave Iraq.

Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba spokesman Hashim al-Mousawi slammed the US and Israel after the US last week designated the group as a terrorist threat.

Iraqi Transportation Minister Hadi al-Amiri said he was...

Hezbollah

Hezbollah chief says Israel ‘scared,’ not ready for war

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Friday that Israel is “scared” of another war with his Lebanese terror group, and claimed the Israeli military is unprepared for any such conflict.

In a televised speech, Nasrallah pointed to the US military’s deployment this week of the advanced THAAD missile defense system in Israel for joint exercises as...

Iran

40 years of Iranian threats against Israel and few pay any attention

Last month a conference in Warsaw brought together high ranking officials from 60 countries, called to discuss the current chaos in the Middle East, and to zero in on the threat posed to the region by the regime in Tehran.

This year, as Iran observes the 40th year of its revolution, its geostrategic objectives remain unchanged. But one other...

Antisemitism

Philadelphia imam calls Jews ‘vilest people

An imam based in Philadelphia has delivered a number of anti-Semitic sermons in recent months, calling Jews “the vilest people” and accusing the late former prime minister Menachem Begin of slitting the stomach of a pregnant woman as part of a “bet.”

Speaking to members of the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society in Philadelphia in mid-February, Imam...

Syria

Syria vows to attack Israel unless it withdraws from the Golan Heights

Syria vowed to attack Israel unless it withdraws from the Golan Heights in an official warning given to head of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization [UNTSO) Kristin Lund by Syrian deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, World Israel News reported on Thursday.

The warning might be a Syrian attempt to prevent official US recognition of...

Hamas

WATCH: Palestinian protestors clash with IDF forces along security force

Thousands of Palestinians clashed with IDF forces on Friday afternoon during what they call 'March of Return,' IDF forces were assaulted with rocks and over 50 explosive devices.

15 attempts to breach the security fence were spotted. Roghly 8,000 Palestinians clashed with IDF forces in five different locations across the Gaza Strip Security...

Iran

Iran’s Militias in Iraq Threaten Israel

Following the defeat of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Tehran began organizing and arming Iraqi Shiite militias to fight the U.S. and its allies and to undermine the newly emergent government. These forces went on to play a key role in the fight against Islamic State (IS) and, to a lesser extent, against rebel forces in Syria. In collaboration with other...

Hamas

Israeli forces gird for fresh violence as tensions mount in Jerusalem, Gaza

Israeli authorities were readying for possible violence in Jerusalem and on the Gaza border Friday, amid soaring tensions over a long-sealed portion of the Temple Mount holy site and an uptick in cross border fighting with the Palestinian enclave.

Tens of thousands of Muslim worshipers were expected to congregate for weekly prayers on Jerusalem’s...