This week, at an event at the Hudson Institute, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson laid out a rather direct yet largely comprehensive response to a question about American support for Israel:

“They are the only stable democracy in the Middle East; they are a critical partner and ally with us for our own interest and concerns… For a lot of Americans, it is also a matter of faith. This is something that is written in the book of Genesis - in the very beginning of the book - that we stand with and bless Israel.”

Thank you for your bold and unwavering leadership, Mr. Speaker. Needless to say, we agree.

Joshua 1:9

In Gaza, Israel’s operations to rescue hostages and dismantle Hamas continue. In recent days, the Israelis have discovered multi-layered tunnels beneath Gaza’s southern border with Egypt. No doubt, these tunnels were critical to Hamas’s weapons and infrastructure buildup in the years leading up to the 10/7 Massacre.

It's clear from this discovery, and numerous others, that Israel’s decision to throw caution to world condemnation and enter Rafah was not only justified but absolutely necessary if Hamas is to be prevented from future massacres.

Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip - in particular in Gaza City - Hamas and PIJ terrorists are working to reconstitute fighting cells and forces. As so many nations have experienced when confronting a foe with no regard for human life, insurgency efforts often arise in such circumstances, but the Israeli government appears determined to stop their development as early and swiftly as possible.

Job 29:17

As this takes place, Israel is still doing everything it can to bring the hostages home, whether through rescue operations or negotiations. In the context of the latter, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released the four basic conditions that Israel requires:

• Any deal will allow Israel to return to fighting until its war aims are achieved,

• Weapons smuggling to Hamas from the Gaza-Egypt border will not be possible,

• The return of thousands of armed terrorists to the northern Gaza Strip will not be possible,

• Israel will maximize the number of living hostages who will be returned from Hamas captivity.

It does not seem unreasonable for Israel to maintain its requirements that the hostages must be returned and Hamas must not be allowed to regroup and attack again.

While, according to reports, many members of Hamas’s Gaza-based middle management seem to understand that they are losing this war, the head of Hamas in Gaza appears determined to be open only to Israel’s destruction or his own. Whether, in the end, these negotiations prove fruitful cannot be known, but, as it always is with aggressors attacking democracies, the ball is in Hamas’s court.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

Have you heard? Iran elected a new president! Actually, don’t get excited. It sort of matters, but not really. The Supreme Leader of Iran is, in fact, the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader; what he says goes, and all others serve at his pleasure.

The new Iranian President-Elect is being sold as a “reformist,” but we disagree. You decide: just days after his election, Iran’s President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated the Islamic Republic’s commitment to destroying Israel. And the “reformist” president of Iran, under which the new President previously served, came out and praised the 10/7 attacks.

The people of Iran have seen this particular charade before and are not likely to be impressed by it. Moreover, in recent months, low voter turnout, first in Iran’s parliamentary elections and now in their presidential elections, indicates a population that understands their leaders are all cut from the same cloth.

Iran is currently waging war via proxies (and directly) on Israel on multiple fronts. Tehran is the reason the 10/7 Massacre was able to take place. The Islamic Republic is responsible for the deaths of numerous American service personnel and is supplying lethal drones to Russia in its unjust and immoral invasion of Ukraine. Iran’s ultimate goal is not the destruction of just Israel, but of the West.

With these simple facts in mind, you’ll not be surprised to learn that Israel’s Foreign Minister is attending a NATO Summit in Washington this week for the express purpose of raising the Iranian threat before the other Western leaders.

Appeasing Iran, i.e. the Obama-Biden approach to the world’s leading sponsor of terror, has failed. The only way to avoid a war with an enemy bent on your destruction is to ensure they do not have the means to live out their barbaric fantasies. The only way to deal with Tehran is a maximum diplomatic and economic pressure campaign.

That is the message we imagine Israel’s Foreign Minister will be bringing to Western leaders, and in just a couple of weeks, that is one of the messages we will be bringing to our leaders in Washington.

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team