Israeli Elections: Initial
Analysis Briefing call Wednesday, March
18th, 12 noon, Eastern Time With Israeli Security Expert Yossi Alpher
Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center
for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF
intelligence officer.
There were only a handful of Israeli settlers beyond the Green Line in 1968, when Lyndon Johnson
became the first American president to express opposition to settlements in the West Bank. Now, despite protest
from every subsequent administration, there are more than 350,000 Israelis living in the West Bank and 200,000
in East Jerusalem. President Johnson’s prediction that settlements would “prejudice a peace settlement” has come
true, as the dramatic rise of the settler movement—in both numbers and political power—has complicated repeated
efforts to achieve a two-state solution.
In this panel at J Street's 2015 conference, APN's Lara Friedman, together with other experts on American and
European policy explored what steps can be taken to halt further settlement growth and entrenchment, and discuss
the political and policy implications of American and European initiatives—from discouragement of Israeli
settlement subsidies to the labeling or boycott of settlement goods.
Watch to see Lara Friedman, together with Michael Cohen of the Boston Globe and Alon Sachar of the US State
Department, with Steve Krubiner, J Street's Chief of staff, moderating. Aviva Meyer, Deputy Chair of
APN, introduces the participants. Session begins at 10:35.
Rabbi Alana Suskin spoke about the prospects for peace following Israel's elections, the work of Peace Now in
Israel and what the challenges are at this time, and what, as American Jews, our role can be in helping Israel
achieve peace and security with her neighbors