Over the past week, the world’s antisemites have provided something
for everyone. In this week’s edition of the Action Update, we discuss
Hezbollah inviting the press to watch their terrorists practice killing
Jews, Iran enhancing their nuclear program (aimed at killing Jews), and
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivering a message to
the UN that sought to kill a core element of Jewish history.

**Hezbollah Puts on a Show**

Last week, Hezbollah terrorists invited members of the media to witness
“military exercises.” During the terrorists’ version of a circus
act, dirt-bike riding militants jumped over hills, while others jumped
through flaming hoops, and yet others attacked simulated Israeli
military positions.

While most militaries don’t generally feel the need to literally jump
through hoops to impress the press, the absurdity of Hezbollah’s
practice attack on Israel should not detract from our understanding of
the threat the terrorist-army poses to Israel.

In response to Hezbollah’s pseudo show of force, the head of
Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate said that the terrorist
group is “close to making a mistake that could plunge the region into
a big war.”

Moreover, it’s worth noting that for decades Israel has been preparing
for a Hezbollah assault on the Jewish state. They may not have planned
for terrorists on dirt bikes jumping through flaming hoops, but
significant missile and rocket fire as well as infiltration through
tunnels, on land and even in the air, are all scenarios for which Israel
has prepared.

Where was the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) through all this? Maybe they
had the weekend off or were tending to important clean-up duty in their
barracks. All jokes aside, we continue to push at minimum for
conditioning U.S. funding of the LAF on their rooting out Hezbollah –
and if that is not in the cards – the funding should be cut entirely.
U.S. taxpayers need not foot the bill for what seems to be Hezbollah’s
auxiliary force.

**Iran’s New Nuclear Facility**

On the heels of reports that Iran is producing near weapons-grade
uranium, as well as news that Tehran has been increasingly aiding Russia
in its assault on Ukraine, new reports from the Islamic Republic
indicate that Iran is building yet another nuclear facility.

It is believed this new subterranean facility is intended to exist
beyond the reach of U.S.-made bunker buster bombs. Obviously, Iran is
seeking to expand its nuclear material production capabilities. And
experts and leaders opposed to Iran’s nuclear program are rightly
concerned about this latest development. But it’s worth recalling that
in recent years, high-tech efforts, including computer viruses and the
like, have proven to be reasonably effective at undermining – at least
for a time – Iran’s nuclear program.

While the Israelis do not believe Iran has decided to take the final
step in nuclear weapons development, Tehran is keeping that option open.
And given that Iran has not yet mastered the necessary technology to put
a nuclear bomb in the warhead of a missile, we can’t know what
they’ve decided to do or not do.

At the end of the day, the race is on between the brave Iranian
protesters seeking to end the regime’s tyranny, and Tehran’s
radicals seeking to acquire a nuclear weapon. Whichever of those events
comes first will have one of the most dramatic impacts on the Middle
East, and the world at large, we’ve seen in decades.

**Abbas’s Recycled Jew-Hatred**

** **

Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the PA, is old. When he leaves this
earth, he will leave behind a legacy of pain and suffering for both the
Israeli and Palestinian people. And in continuing with this tradition,
Abbas recently went before the UN to once again deny the Jewish
connection to Jerusalem.  Specifically, he said that there is no Jewish
connection to the Temple Mount and that the land in question belongs to
the Palestinian Authority.

Such comments would be laughable if they weren’t met with silence at
best and applause at worst by various members of the so-called
“international community.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Abbas’s absurd
comments with a brief history lesson, “The deep ties between the
Jewish People and Jerusalem is one that has no parallel among the
nations. Jerusalem was our capital around 1,100 years before London
became the capital of England, approximately 1,800 years before Paris
became the capital of France and around 2,800 years before Washington DC
became the capital of the US. For over 100 generations, Jews expressed
their special yearning for Jerusalem in prayers that are repeated three
times a day and under the wedding canopy.”

From Hezbollah’s terrorist dog and pony show (no offense to canines or
equines) and Iran’s nuclear development to Abbas’s latest display of
rank antisemitism, there’s a great deal going on in the region with
which Israel and the U.S. must contend. Our job is to ensure Jerusalem
and Washington have the tools needed to confront those challenges. We do
that by advancing policy and having a year-round presence on Capitol
Hill, but never are we more impactful than when you are in our
nation’s capital for CUFI’s annual Washington Summit (July 17-18).
We hope to see you there.

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team

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