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.

US-Israel Relationship

US and Israel call for end of UNRWA, the UN agency that oversees Palestinians

(May 22, 2019 / JNS) The United States and Israel on Wednesday called for UNRWA, the U.N. agency that oversees the Palestinian refugees, to cease operations.

“We need an additional $1.2 billion for our activities in 2019. We don’t believe the future of Palestine refugees should be framed in decades of UNRWA,” said Pierre Krähenbühl, the UNRWA...

Israeli Society

Israelis rush to aid Venezuelan refugees in Colombia

Israeli humanitarian aid agency IsraAID reports that it has dispatched an emergency response team to the city of Cúcuta, on Colombia’s border with Venezuela, which is a flashpoint in the ongoing Venezuelan displacement crisis.

Thousands cross the Simon Bolivar Bridge from Venezuela into Cúcuta every day seeking relief from the continued economic...

Israeli Society

Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer wins truth award

(May 22, 2019 / JNS) Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer will be recognized for his public statements in defense of Israel by the American non-profit organization Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) at a gala dinner next month.

The Emet Award celebration will take place in New York City on June 2....

Holocaust

More than 13 million documents from Nazi concentration camps posted online

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The International Tracing Service in Germany has published online more than 13 million documents from Nazi concentration camps with information on more than 2.2 million people.

The effort to put the archive online was undertaken in partnership with the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.

The tracing service, based in...

US-Israel Relationship

San Diego State center apologizes for using photo of Palestinian terrorist

(JTA) — The Women’s Resource Center at San Diego State University has apologized for including on its weekly newsletter an image of a female Palestinian terrorist holding a gun.

The image was part of the May 8 newsletter sent to the center’s email list, according to the university’s student newspaper, The Daily Aztec. The apology was sent May 14...

Iran

Former Israeli security adviser: Iran wants ‘to annihilate’ Israel, Hamas doesn’t want a ‘solution’

(May 21, 2019 / JNS) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former national security advisor talked about regional challenges facing Israel’s security at an event in New York City last week organized by Friends of European Leadership Network (ELNET).

Brig. Gen. Jacob Nagel, a current visiting professor at the Technion-Israel Institute of...

US-Israel Relationship

LA Mayor Eric Garcetti said he supports move of US Embassy to Jerusalem. Pro-Palestinian groups are calling him out.

(JTA) — Pro-Palestinian groups have called on Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to retract his statement saying he supports the move of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

Garcetti, a Democrat, made the statement last week in Jerusalem while leading a delegation from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, sponsored by the American Jewish Committee Project...

Antisemitism

In Belarus, anti-Semitism erupts when Jews open eatery near Stalin-era gravesite

MINSK, Belarus (JTA) — The new roadside restaurant near gas station No. 65 here looks more like an army base than a fancy eatery.

Surrounded by a tall fence with surveillance cameras, its only gate has two uniformed guards. They interview and then keep a watchful eye on drivers who enter the large parking lot of “Let’s Go Eat,” the cheerfully...

Iran

Iran quadruples low-enriched uranium production

Semi-official news agencies in Iran reported on Monday that the country has quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium amid tensions with the US over an unraveling atomic accord.

The Fars and Tasnim news agencies both reported that the production is of uranium enriched only to the 3.67 percent limit set by the 2015 nuclear deal with world...

Archeology

Germany to return papers of Kafka’s friend Max Brod to Israel

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German police on Tuesday will hand over to Israel thousands of stolen papers and manuscripts belonging to Max Brod, the friend and literary executor of Czech writer Franz Kafka.

Brod, who died in Tel Aviv in 1968, is primarily responsible for Kafka’s success as one of the 20th century’s most influential writers, having...

Israeli Technology

Lifesaving solution for MDA wins ‘Great Minds’ hackathon at Jerusalem tech college

(May 20, 2019 / JNS) More than 80 Jerusalem College of Technology students from Israel and 23 countries gathered at the college’s Machon Lev campus and worked around the clock last Wednesday evening through Friday morning as part of the its third-annual “Great Minds” men’s hackathon.

The winning team, consisting of Brazilians Daniel Vofchuk,...

Antisemitism

Recordings show anti-Israel bias towards international students at the Hebrew University

(May 20, 2019 / JNS) Newly released recordings from Hebrew University’s international graduate program in human rights reveal how international students at the university are subjected to extreme anti-Israel content.

In recordings obtained from a course given by senior professor Daphna Golan, co-founder of the far-left NGO B’Tselem, an array of...

Hamas

This woman organized a Passover seder for 9 senators at 30,000 feet over Vietnam

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Air National Guard pilot gave Jill Cooper Udall the all-clear: There were storm warnings, but she had 10 turbulence-free minutes to get through her seder.

Cooper Udall, who is married to Tom Udall, a Democrat and the senior senator from New Mexico, waved the 25 or so people on the aircraft into the cabin at the plane’s...

US-Israel Relationship

Most of Congress urges Trump: Safeguard Israel’s interests with Syrian civil war ending

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Nearly 400 members of Congress signed a bipartisan letter to President Donald Trump calling on him to safeguard Israel’s interests with Syria’s civil war coming to an end.

The letter sent Monday from members of the House of Representatives and the Senate urged Trump to ensure that Israel has the support and materiel to maintain...

Hamas

COGAT announces Gaza fishing zone extension, does not mention ceasefire

The fishing zone off the coast of the Gaza Strip has been extended to 15 nautical miles, the head of COGAT, Maj.-Gen. Kamil Abu Rukun, announced on Tuesday.

According to the announcement, the act "is part of the civilian policy for prevention of deterioration in humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and is consistent with the policy of...

US-Israel Relationship

US senators introduce bill to boost security funds for synagogues

Two senators have introduced bipartisan legislation to give funds to synagogues and other religious and cultural institutions to help provide additional security against potential terrorist attacks.

US Senators Rob Portman (Republican-Ohio) and Gary Peters (Democrat-Michigan) on Friday introduced Protecting Faith-Based and Nonprofit Organizations...

Israeli Technology

Ben-Gurion University researchers create hybrid flying/driving robot

Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev said they have developed a “groundbreaking” hybrid robot that can both fly and drive, as well as squeeze into tight spaces, all while using the same motor.

The square four-wheeled, winged machine can fly up stairs, roll over rough terrain, flatten itself or raise its body, and quickly move from...

Antisemitism

Jewish student union sign vandalized with swastika at Boston-area high school

(JTA)– The Jewish Student Union sign at a Boston-area high school was vandalized with a swastika.

The swastika was discovered Friday at Brookline High School, a public high school in a near Boston suburb, the CBS affiliate in Boston reported.

“Anti-Semitic vandalism like this is a scary reminder that our work on fostering an inclusive, caring...

Palestinian Authority

PA, Fatah ‘Nakba Day’ statements reiterate opposition to Trump’s ‘deal of the century’

(May 19, 2019 / MEMRI) As is the case every year on “Nakba Day,” this May 15 the Palestinian “right of return” dominated the discourse of both the Palestinian Authority and Fatah. However, this year the discourse was doubly important, coming against the backdrop of the official announcement, expected in the next few weeks, of the Trump...

Holocaust

Over 1,000 bodies found in Holocaust-era mass grave in Belarus

In January, memories of the Holocaust were once again brought up when a mass grave was discovered in Brest, Belarus on the construction site of a new luxury apartment block.

Since the discovery, the bones of 1,214 people, most believed to have been Jews, were excavated from the site, tangled with shreds of cloth and the soles of shoes.

Dmitry...