Before we begin with a difficult Action Update, we wanted to bring a bit of good news: During an overnight operation earlier this week, IDF Cpl. Ori Megidish, who had been taken hostage by Hamas, was rescued by her brothers and sisters in arms. She is in good condition and has been able to see her family.

North, South, East and West

Over the weekend, Israel began its ground campaign into Gaza. Infantry and armor are in Gaza, and unlike previous raids, they do not appear to be leaving; rather they are encircling the enemy. This will be a hard and brutal war. As one individual on our team put it, it’s urban combat akin to Fallujah on top of tunnels akin to Vietnam.

As Israel is engaged in the operation to end Hamas’s infestation of Gaza, Jerusalem is continuing to contend with simmering hostilities on her northern border with Lebanon. In addition, presumably to limit the Palestinians’ ability to open a significant second (or third) front in Judea and Samaria, the IDF has increased anti-terror efforts in the West Bank.

Beyond the combat in the region, in recent days, we’ve borne witness to one outrage after another as world leaders and regular old bigots show their true colors. The UN Secretary General, for example, effectively blamed the 10/7 massacre on Israel (the very definition of blaming the victim). But far more important than those words are the actions we’ve seen taken against Jewish people in the U.S. and abroad.

There are too many incidents to list here, but the reality is that after the worst single-day massacre in Jewish history since the Holocaust, Jews around the world are being hounded, hunted and attacked by antisemitic lynch mobs. Most recently, passengers on a flight from Israel to Russia had to barricade themselves in the airport for hours until local authorities got around to dealing with the attempted pogrom.

Similar scenes have occurred on college campuses right here in the United States, including Jewish students having to barricade themselves inside a building against a lynch mob. Mind you, in some cases these students aren’t even at pro-Israel rallies (not that such would justify this terror and violence). These kids are being attacked simply because they are visually perceived to be Jewish.

We already knew this, but it bears repeating: The “pro-Palestinian” movement in the United States isn’t pro-Palestinian at all. It’s just repackaged, old-fashioned antisemitism with a new flag, blood-libel and lexicon.

Joe Biden and The Tower of Babble

In order for Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, to enter the US, the State Department must approve his entry. The Biden administration is under no requirement to admit such an official, but that’s exactly what Team Biden did last week.

As a result, Iran’s Foreign Minister was allowed to go to the United Nations and effectively deliver a ransom demand to the world for the Hamas-held hostages and threaten the United States. It seems some people in the Biden administration still haven’t learned that the current regime in Iran will never unclench their fist.

It’s worth noting, Amir-Abdollahian’s office put out this monstrous and grotesque statement shortly after the 10/7 massacre, “The resistance has so far achieved brilliant victories during this operation, and this is a bright spot in the history of the Palestinian people’s struggle against the Zionists.”

For the monster we just let into the US, beheading babies is a victory. Rape, torture and murder constitute a “bright spot” according to the man President Biden just let into our country to deliver an ultimatum to Israel and the world from behind the UN’s podium.

The United States Congress

Now that the House has a Speaker, they were able to get back to work. We are very grateful to Speaker Mike Johnson for, immediately upon taking the gavel, advancing a resolution condemning the 10/7 Massacre. We usually do not list who voted how but given that 16 Members of Congress are so antisemitic they voted present or against this resolution, we have decided to list the 16 members of the Hamas Caucus.

Voting no (10): Rep’s Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Cori Bush (D-MO), Andre Carson (D-IN), Al Green (D-TX), Summer Lee (D-PA), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Delia Ramirez (D-IL), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).

Voting present (6): Rep’s Greg Casar (D-TX), Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Nydia Velázquez (D-NY).

Presently, Congress is trying to work out funding that will further enable Israel’s victory against Hamas. In a nutshell, the House would like to advance a standalone $14B bill for Israel’s defense  with offsets elsewhere in the budget. The Senate would like to advance a package that combines aid to Israel with other issues such as aid to Ukraine and some GOP Senators would like to advance an Israel only bill but without offsets.

Our view is partisanship and delays do not help Israel while they fight for their survival. Many have said that Never Again is now and as such we expect our elected leaders to ensure that Israel has the resources needed to ensure that the promise of Never Again is kept.  

We will continue to keep our readers abreast of the latest developments in the region, and the vital role you can play in the days and weeks as we ensure Israel’s warriors have everything they need to end the Hamas threat once and for all.

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team