In this week's edition of the Action Update, we start with Hezbollah
setting up camp inside Israeli territory. From there, we'll move to
the latest effort to disrupt the UN's anti-Israel obsession, and,
attempting to return to an old tradition, we'll end with some positive
news out of our nation's capital.

**Hezbollah Sets Up Camp Inside Israel**

In what is the geo-political equivalent of a game of chicken (albeit
suicidal in the terrorists' case), the Lebanese-based, Iran-backed
terrorist-army Hezbollah, set up some tents in Israel's north near an
eight square mile area known as the Shebaa Farms.

Lebanon claims this land belongs to them, but there's an
internationally recognized border - called the blue line - separating
Israeli from Lebanese territory and even the UN has acknowledged the
territory in question is Israeli.

Along this border, Israel has a security fence, but that fence is inside
Israeli territory by a few meters. So, what Hezbollah has done is set up
a small encampment right there on the border, inside Israeli territory.
Israel is trying to deal with the issue diplomatically, but all options
are on the table (and when Jerusalem says that they actually mean it).

Pardon our bluntness, but everyone knows this ends in one of two ways.
Either Israel's efforts to end this diplomatically through the UN
work, or they don't, and the terrorist will be removed by Israeli
military forces. No true democracy would allow a terrorist entity to
setup shop inside their borders. Nonetheless, if this does come to a
head and force is deemed necessary, we have every confidence Israel will
(of course) succeed in winning the battle, and we are equally confident
the media will then falsely portray Israel as the aggressor.

**Key Congressional Committee Hits Back at UN's Anti-Israel Bias**

As Action Update readers know, every year, Congress advances a foreign
operations appropriations bill that contains a host of important
funding, including annual U.S. aid to Israel. This bill also (often)
includes funding for the UN. But (!) Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), the
chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign
Operations and Related Programs has had enough of the UN's obscene
attitude towards Israel, so when the legislation in question came out of
his subcommittee, it excluded funding for the UN's general budget.

Diaz-Balart succinctly explained his position in a recent hearing,
"Israel is routinely attacked and undermined across the entire U.N.
system, while the world's worst human rights abusers remain, frankly,
relatively untouched." And just as important, Diaz-Balart made clear
that "The bill provides unwavering support of our democratic ally,
Israel, and fully funds the United States-Israel Memorandum of
Understanding by providing $3.3 billion in security assistance.  It
also takes bold, new action to definitively address the anti-Israel bias
at the United Nations and anti-Israel actions at the International Court
of Justice."

The Congressman is right, and we applaud his strong and righteous
position. We likewise welcome the limitations and outright prohibitions
the bill includes on a host of UN-related matters including the Biden
administration's attempt to rejoin UNESCO, the UN's obscene and
absurd Commission of Inquiry into Israeli military actions, and the
UN's preeminent anti-Israel program: UNRWA (which the Biden
administration is funding to the tune of well over $200 million).

**NDAA Moves Forward with Key Pro-Israel Provisions**

The one annual policy bill Congress has consistently advanced for more
than six decades is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). And
this bill regularly includes key CUFI priorities. For example, last
year's bill, which usually lands on the President's desk in the
winter of each year, included the DEFEND Act, a 2022 CUFI Summit
legislative agenda item.

This year is no different, with several high-priority pro-Israel
provisions included in the current draft of the legislation, which just
advanced out of the House Armed Services Committee.

This year's legislation includes support for U.S. - Israel missile
defense cooperation, an authorization of funds for the U.S. and Israel
to jointly work on countering unmanned aerial systems, joint research
and development of so-called future warfare issues such as cybersecurity
and AI, and prioritizes training Israeli pilots on the KC-46, a midair
refueling aircraft the Israelis have put on order that would likely be a
key component of any effort to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.

Finally, the current draft of the NDAA also includes the MARITIME Act
which mandates that the Department of Defense, "seek to build upon the
historic opportunities created by the Abraham Accords and the
incorporation of Israel into the area of responsibility of the United
States Central Command to develop a Middle East integrated maritime
domain awareness and interdiction capability."

By now, we imagine our readers have rightly concluded that there are
real, dangerous challenges in front of us, but, likewise, we are making
important advances in ensuring Israel has the means to defend herself,
and the U.S. remains positively engaged in the region.

With the CUFI Summit only a few weeks away, these challenges and efforts
bring into stark relief the importance of being there, with CUFI, in
Washington to ensure the policies we've discussed above, as well as
many others, advance through Congress and are signed into law.

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team

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