This past Sunday, Cornerstone Church in San Antonio held their 40th
annual

**Night to Honor Israel.** Cornerstone is the home church of CUFI
founder and Chairman Pastor John Hagee. Four decades ago, when Jews and
Christians came together in solidarity for the first

**Night to Honor Israel**, history was made. Over the years, Cornerstone
has distributed more than $100 million to Israeli and Jewish charities.
And as a direct result of this event, CUFI was founded in 2006. This
year, history was made yet again.

Standing Up to Evil
Raise your hand if you would have predicted a few years back that an
ardently pro-Israel Texas megachurch would receive a thoughtful video
greeting from an Arab emissary in your lifetime. No one? Don't worry,
we're as moved and surprised as you are.

Nonetheless, on Sunday night, His Excellency Shaikh Abdulla Bin Rashid
Al Khalifa, Bahrain's Ambassador to the United States, sent a
heartfelt video message to the audience. He spoke of peace, tolerance
and of the evils that so often plague the Middle East. He and his people
seek harmony and prosperity and they recognize that Iran is the
fundamental menace in the region.

"There is evil in this world and we and our allies have to stand
united against it," he said.  "Wherever you look in the Middle East
and you find trouble you consistently find the Iranian regime behind
it."

Further, we would be remiss if we did not mention that Bahrain, in an
agreement with the United States late last week, adopted the IHRA
definition of anti-Semitism (this definition was adopted by Executive
Order last year and is used worldwide to assist in identifying
anti-Semitism) - the first Arab country to do so. We applaud the
Ambassador and the leadership of Bahrain for their clear-eyed approach
to the Middle East and to the importance of interfaith relations.

"Normalization is the New Normal"
The event in San Antonio came on the heels of the announcement of
normalization between a third country once hostile to Israel: Sudan.
This is no small feat as Sudan has been on the receiving end of Israeli
airstrikes targeting Iranian weapons smuggling routes over the last two
decades and has historically been hostile to Israel. Perhaps even more
notable is that as part of this agreement, the Sudanese government has
agreed to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization - something
European countries are divided over; France has yet to do so but Germany
did earlier this year (let thank sink in for a second).

It should also be lost on no one that it was in Khartoum, Sudan's
capital, that the Arab League met in 1967 to issue their infamous 3
no's: No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations
with Israel.

Today, those "three no's" are recognized as an unfortunate
anachronism. But this didn't happen by accident. As Pastor Hagee noted
in his remarks Sunday evening, "Today, because of the bravery of the
leaders of the UAE and Bahrain, the resolve of the President of United
States and the Jewish people's unwavering commitment to peace,
moderate Arab nations are lining up to normalize their relationships
with Israel."

The End of the "Arab-Israeli Conflict"
Pastor Hagee's list now includes Sudan. And God willing more will
follow. The simple truth is that Israel now has formal peace agreements
- or is in the process of securing them - with five former enemy
states. Several other nations, including Saudi Arabia, may not have
formal relations with the Jewish state but they are headed in that
direction and there exists a quiet friendship between the Saudis, the
Omanis and others, and Israel.

It's simply a misnomer to continue to refer to the conflict in the
Middle East as the Arab-Israeli conflict. The nations where there still
exists an actual state of belligerence with Israel are Iran, Syria
(backed by Iran) and Lebanon (controlled by Hezbollah-backed Iran).
Iranians are Persian, not Arabs. And the only remaining state that seems
hellbent on picking a fight with Israel (and France, Greece, Cyprus, the
US, the Kurds, Armenia....) is Turkey. And Turkey isn't an Arab state
either.

In fact, the Palestinians are the only Arab people group resolutely
focused on destroying the Jewish state that are not acting directly on
behalf of Iran. Perhaps one day soon the Palestinians will look at their
Arab brethren, realize the benefits of peace, and empower leaders known
for their ability to build bridges rather than bombs.

Due to the election, we're taking next week off, but we'll be back
with more analysis during the second week of November. In the meantime,
please be sure to make time to go out and vote on November 3rd.

Sincerely,

CUFI Action Fund Team

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