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)

IDF: 56 soldiers died since last Memorial Day, bringing total to 23,741

The number of Israeli casualties of war stand at 23,741 as of May 2019, according to figures published by the Defense Ministry on Friday ahead of Memorial Day next week.

Since last Memorial Day, 96 new names were added to the roster of those who died defending the country since 1860. Fifty-six were IDF soldiers and police, and 40 were disabled...

Archeology

High-tech study of ancient stone suggests new proof of King David’s dynasty

Since the early 1990s, scholars have pointed to a barely readable bit of text on a nearly 3,000-year-old stone as possibly the first extra-biblical historical proof of the Davidic Monarchy. The reading, based upon decades of educated guesses, is notable for what can’t be fully discerned in the Moabite script almost as much as what can.

A pair of...

US-Israel Relationship

U.S. Ambassador Friedman at March of the Living: Antisemitism plagues mankind

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman spoke at the March of the Living on Thursday afternoon in memory of the horrors of the Holocaust, stating that "antisemitism is not going to be eradicated or cured with slogans or easy steps."

"So, of course, we condemn all acts of antisemitism," Friedman stated before the march began. "We condemn all acts...

Holocaust

Israel comes to standstill in somber remembrance of Holocaust victims

Israel came to a standstill at 10 a.m. Thursday as sirens wailed throughout the country in memory of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis during World War II.

The annual remembrance is one of the most solemn days on Israel’s national calendar, with much of the country all but shutting down to honor those who suffered under the Nazi killing...

Holocaust

History is repeating itself, Holocaust survivors warn before March of the Living

AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU, Poland — The surge in anti-Semitic attacks in recent years is reminiscent of the pre-World War II era in Europe, a Holocaust survivor warned Wednesday, with others agreeing that anti-Semitism is back in full force, a day before they participate in the annual March of the Living event.

“For years, I think a lot of survivors...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israeli Air Force strikes Gaza in response to incendiary balloons, rockets

The Israeli Air Force carried out a series of strikes north of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday night, according to the IDF. The strikes were in response to hundreds of incendiary balloons that Hamas launched at Israel on Wednesday.

In retaliation, two rockets were launched at Israel, according to the IDF. There were no injuries are damages, the Shaar...

Antisemitism

Trump decries rise in anti-Semitism in proclamation for Jewish American Heritage Month

(JTA) — President Donald Trump decried the rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes and referenced the shooting attacks on synagogues in Poway and Pittsburgh in a proclamation for Jewish American Heritage Month.

“As we observe Jewish American Heritage Month, our nation celebrates nearly 4,000 years of Jewish history and honors the numerous contributions...

US-Israel Relationship

New legislation in Congress criticizes U.S. military assistance to Israel

WASHINGTON – New legislation in Congress is seeking to “promote human rights for Palestinian children living under Israeli military occupation,” and require that “United States funds do not support military detention, interrogation, abuse or ill-treatment of Palestinian children and for other purposes.”

Congresswoman Betty McCollum, a...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Shin Bet prevented Hamas suicide attack on election day

The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) foiled a Hamas terror attack planned to take place around the elections, the agency announced on Sunday morning.

According to the statement, the Shin Bet, along with the IDF, had uncovered a terror cell in the West Bank that had been recruited by senior Hamas operatives from the Gaza Strip to carry out a car...

US-Israel Relationship

Only copy of US recognition of Israel signed by Truman up for sale

For an estimated $300,000, somebody can now own a piece of American and Israeli history. The only known copy of the press release signed by president Harry Truman in which the US recognized Israel is being put up for sale by the Raab Collection, a Philadelphia-based company that buys and sells historic documents.

“I’ve never carried anything in...

US-Israel Relationship

US commemorates 40 years of Israel-Egypt peace treaty

(April 30, 2019 / JNS) U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hosted a ceremony on Tuesday commemorating the 40th anniversary of the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.

Pompeo commended the two nations for the diplomatic milestone, and that the “negotiations leading up to the treaty ushered in a new level of dialogue and cooperation, and laid the...

Antisemitism

Gaza ‘March of Return’ activist says Jews will soon be buried in ‘ditches of Hitler’

(May 1, 2019 / MEMRI) Thaqalayn TV, which is based in Lebanon and Turkey, aired an interview last week with “Gaza March of Return” activist Maryam Abu Moussa. In the interview, Abu Moussa said that the Palestinians will soon bury the Jews in the “ditches of Hitler.” She claimed that when Hitler ordered the Russians to dig ditches to bury the Jews...

Israeli Technology

Iron Dome batteries deployed throughout Israel ahead of Ramadan, Eurovision

 

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Israel Defense Forces deployed Iron Dome missile defense system batteries throughout the country, as Palestinian terror groups in Gaza warned that they would “ruin Eurovision” with their attacks.

The Iron Dome batteries were deployed on Tuesday, a day after a rocket was fired at Israel from Gaza but landed in the...

Hamas

NYU president says he didn’t support award for Students for Justice in Palestine

JTA — The president of New York University said he did not support an award that the college gave to the pro-Palestinian group Students for Justice in Palestine.

Andrew Hamilton made his comments in a Monday opinion article in The Wall Street Journal written in response to an article that claimed the university was tolerant of anti-Semitism

“Had...

Holocaust

Israel to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day

Israel will begin commemorations of Holocaust Memorial Day on Wednesday evening with a state ceremony to remember the six million Jewish victims of Nazi persecution and to honor the remaining survivors of WW2 atrocities.
A state ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day will be held at 8:00 p.m. local time atop Warsaw Ghetto...

US-Israel Relationship

Florida Senate passes anti-Semitism bill with clear mandate

(April 29, 2019 / JNS) The Florida Senate unanimously passed an anti-Semitism bill previously passed unanimously by the Florida House, which adopts the U.S. State Department definition of anti-Semitism and mandates that discrimination against Jewish people be considered similar to acts of racial discrimination in Florida’s public-education...

Hamas

Trump’s Mideast envoy blasts NY Times over ‘dangerous and despicable’ cartoon

US Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt on Monday slammed the The New York Times after it published a caricature that the paper has since acknowledged was anti-Semitic and for which it has apologized.

The cartoon showed a blind, skullcap-sporting US President Donald Trump being led by a dog-like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with a Star of...

US-Israel Relationship

Israeli Ambassador whips out Bible to make case for Jewish land claim at UN Security Council

Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon addressed a special session of the UN Security Council, during which he outlined four pillars he said "prove the case for Jewish ownership of the Land of Israel."
In order, Danon listed the four pillars as "the Bible, history, international law, and the pursuit of international peace and security."
"Israel...

Medical Advancement

Israeli researchers discover MS drug could help epilepsy patients

Tel Aviv University researchers have discovered that a drug used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis may be adapted to help epilepsy patients.

The development is significant because 30-40 percent of epilepsy patients do not respond to the pharmaceutical treatments available today, particularly children with a rare and severe form of the...

Terrorism

Islamic Jihad denies firing rocket after Israel limits Gaza fishing zone

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group on Tuesday denied firing a rocket toward Israel on Monday night that prompted the military to scale back a recently expanded fishing zone in the Gaza Strip.

“The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, has not announced that it shot a rocket toward the occupation,” PIJ...