This week’s Action Update has a little something for everyone. Intrigued by the efforts of Israel’s foreign intelligence service to protect innocent people? We’ve got you covered. Interested in some high-level policy analysis? There’s some of that as well. And of course, want to end on a good note? We do that do. So, without further ado…
Mossad Foils Iranian Effort to Kill American, Israeli Officials
We’re humble enough to acknowledge that we don’t know what we don’t know. So, occasionally, when some good news comes from the world of international espionage, we take notice. Over the past week, reports have been trickling out that Israel’s foreign intelligence service, Mossad, caught and questioned an Iranian named Mansour Rasouli, thereby thwarting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ plans to murder an American general, an Israeli diplomat and a French
journalist.
The kicker? The Iranian would-be murderous mastermind was captured and questioned inside Iran. That’s right sports fans, the Israelis are able to conduct sophisticated intelligence operations inside the Islamic Republic and as a result we’re all just that much safer. While we look forward to seeing what Israel’s famed intelligence service has planned for the future, we’re quite confident we’ll likely never know, and we’re perfectly ok with that.
Congress Makes Moves on Iran
In recent days, Congress has made two good moves in the effort to confront Iran. First, last week, the House
passed the CUFI-backed Stop Iranian Drones Act. This legislation strengthens efforts to confront the Iranian UAV threat, as Iran has used drones through proxies (and not) to target American allies in the Middle East. The vote in support of the bill was overwhelming and bipartisan with just two votes against the bill: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). If these names are familiar to you, it’s because these two individuals consistently vote against foreign policy initiatives that strengthen America’s and our allies’ national security position.
In
the Senate, Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), a stalwart supporter of an appropriately robust American foreign policy, has offered a Motion to Instruct (MTI) members of his chamber who will be discussing the final version of the so-called “China bill” to “require any deal with Iran to address Chinese purchases of Iranian oil, along with Iran’s nuclear proliferation, ballistic missile development, and support for terrorism. The MTI would also prohibit the President from lifting the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the military of the world’s leading State Sponsor of Terrorism.”
We are grateful to Sen. Lankford for offering the MTI and are hopeful it will advance through the Senate as early as today.
25 States Plus DC Have Adopted IHRA
Last week, as Israel commemorated Holocaust Remembrance Day, Alaska joined 24
other states and the District of Columbia in acknowledging the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s Definition (IHRA) of antisemitism. Seeing states acknowledge this definition – initially codified by President Trump’s 2019 Executive Order Combatting Antisemitism – has been a key priority for the Action Fund. We have worked closely with partners at organizations like the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Federations of North America to reach this important milestone, and we are grateful to each of them for partnering with us on this vital endeavor.
In a press release announcing the news of having reached the threshold, CUFI Action Fund Chairwoman Sandra Parker said, “On Yom HaShoah, we remember the victims of the Holocaust and honor their memory by recommitting ourselves to the promise of Never Again. One cannot defeat that which they are unwilling to define and the IHRA definition is a vital tool in the effort to combat the rising tide of antisemitism sweeping across the country. It is therefore fitting that on this day we have crossed the threshold wherein a majority of American leaders - across the country and the political spectrum - have now acknowledged the IHRA definition.”
As the CUFI Washington Summit approaches, we’ll have more good news to share, but there’s much more work to be done. We can accept incremental progress, but we must progress – and for that to happen, your continued engagement is required. So, as always, thanks for reading this week’s Action Update and staying on top of the issues that matter most to America’s Christian Zionist community.
