On February 17, 2015, APN hosted Amir Tibon, the diplomatic correspondent of Israel's news site Walla for a briefing call on Israel's upcoming elections. A month before the elections, Tibon gave an eye-opening review of Israel's electoral arena, spoke about the way in which Prime Minister Netanyahu's push to speak to Congress about Iran is playing in Israel, and about the way in which various issues are playing in the campaign. He also reviewed various post-election scenarios, and predicted that Benjamin Netanyahu, if he's called on to form the next government, would strive to form a national unity government with the Zionist Camp's Yitzhak Herzog and Tzipi Livni.

Introducing our first editorial cartoon!  

Starting this week, APN will be running these cartoons about every other week.

Cartoons have been a hot topic recently because of their power to incite and provoke. We will never be gratuitous with this form of expression—but we do plan to use this medium to incite action and to provoke thought. As we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words. This is our aim: to make people think and to act for peace.

We hope you like them and we hope you like the first one, aptly named: “Messiah complex.”   

This week, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin publicly lamented the challenge facing the new Palestinian city of Rawabi, whose existence he called a “clear Israeli and Zionist interest.” Rawabi is now ready for its first residents – except that there is no running water. This problem has continued for months, and President Rivlin drew attention to a Haaretz editorial identifying its source: the zero-sum game that Israeli settlers and politicians play with the lives of Palestinians.

APN Chair Jim Klutznick recently brought you the story of Rawabi and how it can benefit Israel – his words are more timely and urgent than ever.

L'Shalom,
Debra DeLee
President and CEO
Americans for Peace Now

This week, Alpher discusses the likelihood Israel will produce a government capable of moving forward toward a two-state solution; whether a right-wing-led government is more likely at this point; what, at this point in time, is the most likely coalition to emerge from these elections; what surprises he envisions in these elections; the possibility of the United States and the international community ratcheting up the pressure on the next Israeli government; and what are the consequences thus far of the tension over Iran between Netanyahu and the Obama administration that has reportedly brought US-Israeli relations to a new low.