In recent weeks, for obvious reasons, we’ve focused exclusively on the Gaza war, the northern front, and the associated issues. In this week’s edition of the Action Update, our focus has not changed, but we’re going to structure things a bit differently.

Required Reading

At present, Israel continues operations in Gaza to free the hostages and eliminate Hamas. Likewise, on Israel’s northern border exchanges of fire continue between Hezbollah and Israel as that front teeters on the brink of full-scale war. Just this week, 18 Israeli soldiers were wounded by Hezbollah drone attacks.

In Washington, the Biden administration continues to swing wildly between policies that appease the anti-Israel fringe and those supported by mainstream Democratic Zionists; though news that the Biden administration is withholding “seven weapons systems” from Israel indicates the President is leaning towards the former.  In Congress, the fringes on both sides of the aisle wrap antisemitism and/or anti-Israel votes in various fig leaves, while the most extreme elected officials do not even bother to hide their hatred.   

In stark contrast to the above, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in Jerusalem last week.

After the meeting, the Prime Minister told the Senator, “I want to thank you for your courageous statements that show moral clarity and moral courage, and you just say it the way it is... We appreciate this friendship at all times, but especially at these times.”

In his comments, Sen. Fetterman, who has been one of the leading pro-Israel voices in Congress, spoke the plain truth (as is his style), “We stand with Israel through this… I’m so sorry for what’s been done to this nation.”

We are deeply grateful to Sen. Fetterman, both for his steadfast support for Israel as well as his clear belief that bipartisanship is something to be welcomed not denigrated.

Facts and Figures

Despite the Palestinian terrorists having recorded the atrocities they committed on 10/7, their barbarism on that day is disputed or flatly denied by the Israel-haters.

Likewise, the rates of civilian deaths in the ensuing conflict in Gaza are also under dispute. The numbers provided by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry are, unsurprisingly, mathematically impossible. Even the United Nations and Associated Press are revising their claims. Nonetheless, the Israel-haters stand by the Hamas numbers.

Finally, throughout the conflict, predictions that Gaza is perpetually a few weeks away from a mass humanitarian disaster, have proven false.

Moreover, the more we learn about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the more we come to understand that Israel has ensured so much aid has entered the Strip that well over 1,000 truckloads are sitting idle on the Gaza side of Israel’s Kerem Shalom border crossing near Rafah.

Clearly, not even the UN trusts Hamas to leave aid convoys unmolested, but that doesn’t stop the Israel-haters (including the UN) from blaming Israel.

Here’s the piece, if you have to lie about the facts and manipulate the figures just so you can demonize the other side, you’re on the wrong side. But, tragically, for many wannabe revolutionaries in the West, that doesn’t matter.

Useful Idiots

Imagine for a moment if every day of your life was the hardest day of your life, and that barring a miracle, tomorrow will be even harder. Imagine that when you speak to your children in your native tongue when traveling abroad you must do so in a hushed voice, lest your language betray your identity. This is what it is to be an Israeli in the world today.

Imagine for a moment that every time you walk into your house of worship, you look around for an attacker. Imagine being fearful of wearing garments, jewelry or anything that could identify you with your faith. Imagine sitting around the dinner table with friends questioning whether or not your family will be safe tomorrow, or if it’s time to run, as your parents and/or grandparents did. That is the daily reality for many members of the Jewish community throughout the world today.

All of this is enabled by Hamas’s allies in the West - both the true-believing Israel-hating agitators and the pompous, privileged, Hamas sympathizers (read useful idiots) camping out on the quad. The former wants to see the death of the state of Israel; the latter is willing to support genocide so they can take selfies while engaging in “resistance.”

Case-in-point: Doctors Without Borders (DWB) has an extremely laudable mission. This week, they were irate when they learned one of their “staff” had been targeted by Israel. Turns out, the individual in question was a terrorist – and you don’t have to take our word for it, the Israelis released pictures. But DWB hasn’t issued an apology for hiring a terrorist or even for attacking Israel, and all the Israel haters, from the agitators to the useful idiots, will now claim that Israel killed a DWB employee.

Arrogance, dishonesty, and selfishness are the defining characteristics of Hamas’s allies in the West. Too arrogant to abandon their hate, too dishonest to admit they’re wrong, and too selfish to care that their actions only cause more pain and suffering in the Middle East.

War often shows people for who they are. We thank God for leaders like Sen. Fetterman and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. But we must acknowledge that others in Washington and around the globe have betrayed themselves as political animals, terrorist sympathizers, cowards, and fools. 

At CUFI we are none of those things. In the United States, we should be none of those things. As we gather with our families to celebrate our nation’s independence from tyranny later this week, let us remember all those who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend the freedoms we enjoy. And let us also never forget that as we see today in numerous places around the world – not the least of which Israel – that, as President Ronal Reagan so accurately elucidated, “Freedom is a fragile thing and it's never more than one generation away from extinction.”

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team