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This will be our final Update of the year. Ordinarily we would focus on
what we've accomplished as a result of your support, and what we plan
to do in 2024. And to an extent, we do that. But what follows is our
blunt assessment of a key front in this war: Washington.

**The World Has Changed for Everyone**

It's at this point bordering on cliché to say that on October 7th,
the world changed, but it did.

In Israel, despite the long-held desire to avoid reinvading Gaza, there
is widespread consensus that the Jewish state's warriors must
completely defeat Hamas if the Israelis are to ever be safe again. None
relish the war; most believe it to be necessary.

Here in the U.S., much has also changed. Unfortunately, our adversaries
and our elected officials have not yet come to fully understand our
October 8th world.

Israel's detractors continue to peddle in absurdities.

**Jesus was a Palestinian refugee; Israel does not have a right to
defend itself; Hamas is not a terrorist organization**; and on and on
the list goes. But here's the thing, in the wake of October 7th, those
making the decisions about this war are unmoved by the Israel-haters'
concocted outrage.

Serious people do not (and certainly should not) care about the
contrived arguments and sensitivities of those who rely on the lie that
denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination in their
indigenous land (aka anti-Zionism) is not antisemitism.

In the aftermath of October 7th, those who have spent years peddling
anti-Israel myths over facts are facing a perfect storm: an Israeli
people who overwhelmingly feel they have no choice but to finish the
fight and millions of pro-Israel activists who've no problem calling
the Israel-haters what they are, antisemitic terrorist sympathizers.

**Congress Misses the Memo**

The world has also changed for our elected officials in Washington, but
they plainly missed the headline. According to a recent report, 2023 was
among the least productive years in Congress in decades and, as one
Axios writer put it, "The 118th Congress is on track to be one of the
most unproductive in modern history."

This pronouncement is fairly on brand for the current Congress, which
left town well before Christmas and won't be returning until January
9th. That'll be ten days before key elements of the current stopgap
government funding measure begin to expire, and a few weeks before
Israel is likely to run out of previously appropriated U.S. aid from
which to draw down in order to purchase critical defense items -
including ammunition.

The CUFI Action Fund has been instrumental in advancing key legislation
like the Taylor Force Act, the STOP Using Human Shields Act, the Never
Again Education Act, and Israel's most recent Iron Dome resupply which
is now more critical than ever. We have engaged at the state level to
combat antisemitism, advance enhanced Holocaust education standards, and
ensure that the overwhelming majority of states have enacted anti-BDS
measures. And all of that was

**before** October 7th.

In the wake of the massacre, and as this war goes on and Israel has
fewer and fewer friends, we will remain resolutely focused on the task
at hand. To be clear: we will not rest until every strong and viable
policy proposal to support Israel, defeat the murderous regime in
Tehran, counter the antisemitic BDS movement, and stand
shoulder-to-shoulder with our Jewish friends and neighbors against the
flood of antisemitism is advanced and implemented.

**We Will Remember in November**

That starts with ensuring Israel receives the $14.5 billion emergency
war supplemental to acquire more lifesaving anti-missile and rocket
systems and replenish critical munitions as it fights Iranian proxies on
multiple fronts. Advancing such a measure enjoys widespread bipartisan
support, yet the 118th Congress has thus far sent nothing to the
President's desk.

If Congress is to stand with Israel, as our leaders have so often
promised, we do not have the luxury of allowing politics, infighting and
personal ambitions stand in the way of advancing this measure.

Upon Congress's return to Washington, passing a supplemental aid
package which can be signed by the President is of paramount importance.
Like it or not, to advance policies, members of Congress will have to
work across the aisle, with all that entails, to get the job done.

Once Congress has fulfilled the oft-repeated campaign promise that
Israel's security is sacrosanct by ensuring Jerusalem has the
capability to defend herself from the Iranian-backed terrorists in the
Middle East, Congress should then turn to legislation ensuring American
taxpayers aren't subsidizing the terrorists' allies in the BDS
movement here at home. That means advancing, without delay, the
Countering Hate Against Israel by Federal Contractors Act.

Congress and President Biden must understand that every day wasted by
petty politics and weakness is a day that Israel is further in peril and
Iranian backed forces from Gaza to Lebanon to Yemen are able to advance
their genocidal ambitions without fear. 

Our message to you, Israel's preeminent allies in this fight, is
simple: Thank you for your continued to support, particularly since the
world-changing events of October 7th. The CUFI Action Fund was created
for such a time as this, and as we redouble our efforts in the New Year,
we would only ask that you consider furthering your support for our work
together in both words and deeds. For Zion's sake we will not be
silent and we know, neither will you.

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team 

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