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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Officials confirm US to name Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terror group Monday

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is preparing to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards a “foreign terrorist organization,” an unprecedented move against a national armed force that could have widespread implications for US personnel and policy in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Officials informed of the step said an announcement was expected...

After 37 years, Baumel buried in funeral touching ‘deepest part of our identity’

Sgt. First Class Zachary Baumel was laid to rest in Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery on Thursday evening, nearly 37 years after his death in the First Lebanon War’s battle of Sultan Yacoub in 1982, at the age of 21.

Thousands turned out for the ceremony, where Baumel — whose remains were returned to Israel days ago after a complex IDF...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israel Apartheid Week flyer at Columbia U. depicts IDF soldier with horns

Students Supporting Israel at Columbia University is calling on the public to reach out to the office of the president of Columbia University and take a stance against what the organization is calling “blatant antisemitism from the dark ages of Europe” on campus.

Earlier this week, Students for Justice in Palestine, Columbia University Apartheid...

Anti-Israel protester attempts to firebomb synagogue in Turkey

A man threw a firebomb at the Beth Israel Synagogue in Izmir, Turkey.

The attacker’s Molotov cocktail, thrown on March 28, fell to the sidewalk and did not damage the synagogue. The incident was first reported on Tuesday by the Turkish-language Salom Jewish news website.

The unidentified attacker reportedly told police that he attacked the...

With Beresheet, Israel becomes 7th country to achieve lunar orbit

Engineers confirmed early Friday morning that the Beresheet spacecraft was successfully captured by lunar gravity during a tricky maneuver the night before, making Israel the seventh country in the world to successfully send objects into orbit around the moon.

The United States, Russia (as the USSR), Japan, China, the European Space Agency and...

Iran

Iran killed more US troops in Iraq than previously known, Pentagon says

The Pentagon is upping the official estimate on the number of U.S. troops in Iraq who were killed by Iranian-backed militias, now putting that number at at least 603.

Officials previously said that Iran was linked to the deaths of roughly 500 troops.
That means roughly one in every six American combat fatalities in Iraq were attributable to Iran....

Israeli Technology

With Turkish loss of the F-35, Israel keeps its aerial superiority

The Pentagon’s decision to stop the delivery of equipment related to the F-35 stealth fighter jet to Turkey due to Ankara’s decision to purchase the Russian-made S-400 air defense system will allow Israel to keep it’s aerial superiority in the Middle East.

Washington’s move follows repeated warnings both from the United States and NATO allies to...

Satellite images show site in Aleppo allegedly struck by Israel

Satellite images released by the Israeli intelligence firm ImageSat Intl. (ISI) on Thursday show the destruction of an industrial zone in Aleppo in northern Syria allegedly struck by Israel in late March.

The images show destruction to two structures, a hanger and a building, in the north-western part of the Sheikh Najjar industrial area, both...

2,000-year-old image of 9-stem menorah found in rare Jewish site in Beersheba

A rare well-preserved large Second Temple-period Jewish settlement, watchtower, and subterranean passages are currently being unearthed near Beersheba in Israel’s Negev Desert, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Thursday. Among the artifacts uncovered at this important site is an intriguing depiction of a nine-stemmed menorah, which...

Syria vows to recapture Golan from Israel ‘by all means’

Syria will not shy away from using force to reconquer “every inch” of the Golan Heights, the country’s foreign minister threatened Thursday.

“Syria will liberate the occupied Golan by all means and all choices are on the table,” Walid Muallem said at a press conference in Damascus alongside his Venezuelan counterpart.

“US President Donald...

Inside the 37-year search for IDF soldier Zachary Baumel

Over the course of nearly 37 years, Israeli intelligence officers searched for the remains of fallen tank commander Zachary Baumel, who went missing in the 1982 Battle of Sultan Yacoub against the Syrian army in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

This week, nearly four decades later, Sgt. First-Class Baumel’s body was returned to Israel and will be brought...

Body of soldier Zachary Baumel missing since 1982 Lebanon battle brought home

The remains of an Israeli soldier believed killed in a 1982 battle with Syrian forces in Lebanon were returned to Israel this week, the military said Wednesday, ending a 37-year search.

Staff Sgt. Zachary Baumel went missing in the 1982 First Lebanon War’s battle of Sultan Yacoub, along with two other soldiers whose whereabouts remain unknown.
...

Hezbollah established new missile factory in Beirut- report

Hezbollah has built a new missile factory in Beirut with the help of Iran, a Channel 13 report revealed on Monday night.

Israeli intelligence reportedly shared the new information with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who warned Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri of the secret facility on his state visit to Lebanon in March and expressed his...

Would-be Palestinian attacker shot dead in West Bank

A would-be Palestinian attacker was shot dead Wednesday morning during an attempted stabbing near Huwara in the West Bank. The man was shot by two armed Israeli civilians, including his target.

The attacker was evacuated to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva in critical condition and died shortly afterwards. No one else was harmed in the incident....

Israeli UN Envoy Hails General Assembly’s Condemnation of Antisemitism Following Diplomatic Battle

Israel’s envoy to the United Nations on Tuesday hailed the passage of a General Assembly resolution on hate crimes that was amended to include a specific condemnation of antisemitism as “an Israeli achievement at the UN and a crushing loss to the forces of hatred.”

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, pointed out in a statement that the...

First lady Nechama Rivlin in stable condition after ‘quiet night’ in hospital

The wife of President Reuven Rivlin was in stable condition Wednesday morning, but still under sedation and on a respirator, after a sudden deterioration in her condition the prior evening prompted her hospitalization.

Nechama Rivlin was rushed to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva with difficulty breathing almost three weeks after receiving a...

Jerusalem Post Arab-Israeli Conflict Hamas threatens families of captured Israelis: ‘accept our terms’

“You will see your sons only if you accept the terms of the Resistance,” read a Hamas-attributed post released on Tuesday threatening the families of IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin, St.-Sgt. Oron Shaul, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed.

The tweet featured pictures of family members of the four captured Israelis.

Later on Tuesday, the Al-Qasam Brigade...

Israel Inaugurates Embassy in Rwanda

Israel opened an embassy in the central African country of Rwanda in its capital Kigali, on Monday. This is Israel’s 11th embassy in Africa.

The embassy “symbolizes the policy of Israel’s return to Africa, as was announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu three years ago and in light of which he visited the continent four times and...

PA stops referring Palestinian patients to Israeli hospitals

The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry has stopped referring Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to Israeli hospitals, a Palestinian official confirmed on Monday.

Government-affiliated and independent Palestinian news outlets first reported late last week that the PA ceased referring Palestinians to Israeli hospitals.

“We will no...

Iran

US planning new Iran sanctions, may target oil waivers — report

A US official said Washington was considering bolstering sanctions against Iran Monday, as Tehran protested that existing financial constraints placed by the US were hampering recovery efforts as the country continued to be hammered by deadly floods.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the new sanctions could come in May, a...