War continues in Israel. Chaos continues in Congress. All the while, Iran is threatening to get involved in the conflict, and things are heating up on Israel’s northern border. Let’s get into it.

Israel at War

Since the carnage of the 10/7 Massacre, more than 1,400 Israelis (and residents of Israel) have been killed, including nearly 300 Israeli soldiers and 30 Americans. More than 3,500 people have been wounded, and Israel has confirmed that 199 people are being held hostage by Palestinian terrorists. 13 Americans are still missing; it is very possible they too were abducted by Hamas during the invasion.

Israel has now taken the fight to Hamas, launching an aerial campaign that has hit at least 6,600 terrorist targets. In addition, over the weekend, Israel ordered all Palestinians out of northern Gaza, and Jerusalem engaged in small incursions into the northern Gaza strip to attempt to secure information about the hostages.

Hamas continues to launch rockets against Israel, attempting to hit Israeli population centers. Likewise, both Hamas and Hezbollah have attacked Israel from Lebanon - no doubt under Iranian direction. Each time Israel has responded by either rebuffing incursions across the border or striking back at the terrorists’ launch sites.

The Head of the Snake

From Yemen and Iraq to Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, Iran funds virtually every terrorist organization in the Middle East. And it is through those terror organizations that Iran’s tentacles are able to reach far and wide, even here at home.

In fact, a June 2022 George Washington University report (conducted with researchers from West Point) found that there were already over 120 Hezbollah operatives in the United States. And that’s just those we know about. In the past week at least two dozen Iranian, Lebanese or Syrian nationals were stopped at the US-Mexico border. Ultimately, we’ve no clue how many more such individuals may have crossed the border over the years, nor do we have any way of knowing how many of those people are terrorists or Iranian government operatives.

Iran is now threatening to directly enter the conflict beyond the engagement from its proxy forces on the South and North of Israel. In response to the increasing threat of a second front opening in Israel’s war on terror, the Israelis attacked airports in Syria in an effort to disrupt the Iranian flow of weapons to Hezbollah and no doubt Iranian forces themselves who have been on the ground in Syria as part of the Syrian Civil War.  

For its part, the US Navy, which already has one carrier group in the eastern Mediterranean, is sending another. Likewise, the US Air Force is deploying F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, as well as A-10 attack aircraft, to the area. And the British, world renown for their military prowess on the high seas, have also sent naval assets to the eastern Mediterranean.

Congressional Chaos

While we are deeply grateful to the White House for the administration’s swift statements and actions in support of Israel, sadly the same cannot be said of the U.S. House of Representatives, despite overwhelming bipartisan support for standing with Israel during this time. We would never take a position on the Speaker’s race, but we would respectfully request that our elected officials get the People’s House in order.

In stark contrast to the larger House of Representatives, House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) will mark up no less than eight bills that would directly target Iran and its tentacles. Legislation on the calendar includes the SHIP Act, part of the CUFI Summit legislative agenda this past summer. Likewise, newly introduced CUFI-supported legislation aimed at clawing back the $6 billion in frozen assets the Biden administration gave Iran in recent weeks in exchange for U.S. hostages now has well over 100 cosponsors (in just a matter of days).

In addition, both chambers of Congress are in the process of advancing overwhelmingly bipartisan pro-Israel resolutions. While such resolutions are important and appreciated, the moment of truth will come very soon as an emergency aid package begins to wind its way through Congress and onto the President’s desk.

Last time Israel required such support the Hamas Caucus (essentially the Squad plus Rep. Tom Massie (R-KY)) tried to block the aid. We defeated that effort, but the Israel-haters successfully delayed the support from getting to Israel. Jerusalem’s warriors cannot afford such delays while they are engaged in combat against a bloodthirsty enemy resolutely committed to the Jewish state’s destruction. With your help, we are going to shut down the Hamas Caucus’s efforts with the same speed, power, and unwavering commitment to victory displayed the very soldiers requiring this vital support.

As the war rages in the Middle East, so long as we heed our Biblical mandate to stand with Israel, we will play our role in ensuring Israel is able to vanquish the barbarians at her gates.

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team