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 said to increase alert amid Iran tensions

The IDF has stepped up its alert status amid concerns that Iran could try and harm Israel as tensions between Tehran and Washington spiral, Channel 12 reported Sunday.

According to the report, which did not cite any sources, the defense establishment has completed a series of steps in recent days to ensure that it can respond to any developments,...

Hezbollah

Hezbollah is now giving orders to Syria’s army – and using it to spy on Israel

Earlier this month, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based watchdog group, reported that Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah positions on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. There was no Israeli comment on the claim.

The report said one of the targets was a post on Tel al-Harra, a mountain that is considered a strategic point...

US-Israel Relationship

Patriots owner Kraft pledges $20 million to battle anti-Semitism, BDS

AP — The owner of the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, accepted Israel’s prestigious Genesis Prize at a lavish ceremony on Thursday, where he pledged $20 million to establish a foundation dedicated to combating anti-Semitism and the Palestinian-led boycott movement against Israel.

In his keynote address, Kraft told the audience of Israeli and...

US-Israel Relationship

NFL quarterback Deshaun Watson says he’s wowed by Israel

Houston Texans star quarterback Deshaun Watson toured Jerusalem Thursday and said that while he’d had no expectations before his first trip to Israel, after only a few days the visit already had a major impact on him.

“It’s definitely a life-changing experience for you to really feel the energy of Israel and especially Jerusalem,” Watson said...

Israeli Society

Israel approves $40.4 million to help Ethiopian students in higher education

The Council for Higher Education in Israel has approved a $40.4-million plan to encourage academic excellence and leadership among Ethiopian-Israeli students.

The multi-year plan to help the students is part of Israel’s 2015 Government Policy for Advancing the Integration of Israel Citizens of Ethiopian Descent into Israeli Society. It includes...

Iran

After drone downed, Trump says ‘Iran made a big mistake’; PM backs him

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Tehran had made a “very big mistake” in shooting down a US spy drone near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

“They made a very big mistake,” Trump told reporters at the White House following the strike in the strait. “This country will not stand for it, that I can tell you.”

Asked by a...

Israeli Society

49% of Israelis fear anti-Semitism while traveling abroad

Half of Israelis surveyed say they worry about encountering anti-Semitism while vacationing abroad, this according to a new survey commissioned by the European Conference of Rabbis, which represents hundreds of Jewish communities across the continent.

The Sapio Research and Strategy firm carried out the poll of 502 Israelis about their concerns...

ISIS

2 Chicago-area men convicted of providing support to ISIS

Two Chicago-area men were found guilty on Thursday of supporting Islamic State in a federal case in which one of them was accused of saying he hoped to see the jihadist group's flag over the White House, local media reported.
Edward Schimenti and Joseph Jones, both 37, were convicted for providing material support and resources to terrorists in a...

US-Israel Relationship

Trump’s UN pick vows to fight anti-Israel bias, anti-Semitism

(June 19, 2019 / JNS) Nearly four months after being nominated, Kelly Craft—U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick to replace Nikki Haley as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations—vowed on Wednesday to fight the international body’s anti-Israel bias, in addition to calling out anti-Semitism.

“Without U.S. leadership, our partners and allies would be...

Israeli Technology

Number of businesses in Judea and Samaria doubled over the past decade

(June 20, 2019 / Israel Hayom) No fewer than 1,982 small and medium-sized businesses operate in Judea and Samaria, a 100 percent increase over the past decade. Relative to population size, the average rate of entrepreneurship in Judea and Samaria in 2018 was 20 percent higher than in Tel Aviv.

The data—from the Israel’s Central Bureau of Statics...

Antisemitism

American Jewish tourist beaten in Berlin

(June 19, 2019 / JNS) An American Jewish tourist was injured in an anti-Semitic assault in Berlin, police announced on Wednesday.

The unnamed 23-year-old man was in the Steglitz district when three men confronted him, according to a police statement.

“The 23-year-old suffered a hematoma on the eye due to blows in the face,” said police, who...

US-Israel Relationship

Department of Education to probe anti-Israel bias at North Carolina conference on Gaza

(JTA) — The U.S. Department of Education will investigate a Middle East conference on Gaza co-sponsored by two North Carolina universities over allegations that it had an anti-Israel bias.

Rep. George Holding, R-N.C., called on the department to check into the late March conference co-sponsored by Duke University and the University of North...

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS)

Christians who stand with Israel combat BDS

Among Christians who stand with Israel, none comes so close to being monolithic in their support than evangelicals. A 2017 poll by Lifeway Research revealed that 67 percent of evangelical Christians have a positive perception of the Jewish state.

That is a lot of people. According to France’s Sébastien Fath, there are about 630 million...

Iran

US Navy drone shot down by Iranian missile over Strait of Hormuz in ‘unprovoked attack,’ central command says

U.S. military officials returned fire -- verbally -- hours after Iran blasted a Navy high-altitude drone out of the sky over the Strait of Hormuz, with U.S. Central Command leaders on Thursday slamming the "unprovoked" strike and Tehran's subsequent "false" justifications for it.

President Trump said on Twitter that Iran "made a very big...

Antisemitism

U.S. antisemitism envoy: Armed guards needed at synagogues, Jewish centers

Carr, interviewed on stage at the Global Coalition 4 Israel Conference by Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief Yaakov Katz, said such a move was an unfortunate but necessary step.

"We live in a time of danger," Carr said. "Any synagogue, every JCC, should have guards. God willing, may they never be needed, but they should be there."

Carr was appointed...

Archeology

Ancient observation tower discovered in present IDF paratrooper base

An ancient observation tower was discovered in southern Israel on Wednesday in an IDF paratrooper base. The tower dates back to the days of the King Hezekiah, who ruled the Kingdom of Judah almost 3,000 years ago, according to the Bible.

"The strategic location of the tower served as a lookout and warning point against the Philistine enemy, one...

Hamas

Egypt to pay $500 million fine for breaking gas deal with Israel

(June 19, 2019 / JNS) Egypt reached a settlement with Israel on Sunday to pay the Israel Electric Corporation $500 million over the next eight and a half years, after breaking an agreement to deliver natural gas to the Jewish state in 2012.

The gas supply deal was announced under Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 2005 and the opening of the...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israel Air Force conducts massive drill simulating all-out, multi-front war

(June 19, 2019 / JNS) The Israeli Air Force is holding a large-scale, four-day combat exercise simulating simultaneous warfare in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon and featuring F-35 jet fighters, according to the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday.

The drill focuses on fighting in the country’s north, against Hezbollah and Iranian forces.

It will simulate...

US-Israel Relationship

15 past and present New England Patriots players accompany Robert Kraft on trip to Israel

(JTA) — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is taking eight current and seven of the team’s former players with him to Israel.

Kraft, the billionaire philanthropist and CEO of the Kraft Group, is visiting the Jewish state to receive the Genesis Prize, nicknamed the Jewish Nobel Prize.

The group of former players includes stars such as Drew...

US-Israel Relationship

FBI brings together Muslim, Jewish, Christian leaders together to share security information

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The FBI convened a round table meeting of leaders of Muslim, Jewish and Christian groups to discuss means of preventing bias-based attacks on religious institutions.

The event Tuesday at FBI headquarters in Washington DC appeared to be the first of its kind; the FBI has in the past convened similar forums for Jewish groups....