"You can't be in favor of the land of Israel in Hebrew and establish a Palestinian state in English."

(Photos: Yair Sagi, Alex Kolomoisky)

Israel Education Minister Naftali Bennett, in a backhanded attack against Prime Minister Netanyahu, to which new Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said: "Bennett needs to calm down." Read More

Yossi Alpher is an independent Israeli security analyst. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

June 6, 2016 - Peace processes: now, 1967, 1976

Q. Last week you expressed skepticism regarding the willingness of the Arab world to sponsor an Israeli-Palestinian peace process that corresponds with the demands of the right-wing Netanyahu government. What has happened since?

A. A French attempt to revive the same peace process...ended in Paris with a watered-down statement that appeared of little immediate consequence.

Q. Nevertheless, let's suppose that Netanyahu brings Labor into the coalition, he and Lieberman continue to preach "two states for two peoples" and the Egyptians and Saudis agree to launch a peace process. What would happen? Put on your optimist's hat and give us a best case scenario.

A. In the best case I can imagine, two negotiating tracks are established: Israeli-Palestinian with Egyptian and Jordanian chaperones to discuss two states, and Israel-Arab talking to Israel about normalization gestures...

Q. Meanwhile, early June is "anniversary" time: we are entering year 50 since the Six-Day War. How would you summarize that war's overall effect on Israel-Arab peace?

A. From Israel's standpoint, seen from 2016 this remains a very just "no alternative" defensive war...But Israel made two huge mistakes in the aftermath...

Q. We're approaching another significant anniversary: July 4 will mark 40 years to the Entebbe rescue. In an interesting new book some Israelis, including rescued Entebbe hostages, argue that the raid "made peace less likely...[and made] it harder for Israeli politicians to push through the compromises required for peace". Where do you stand?

A. ...I disagree with the argument...

APN Legislative Round-Up: May 21-June 7

1. Bills, Resolutions, and Letters
2. FY17 NDAA – In the Senate
3. Hearings
4. On the Record

Help APN while purchasing gifts for Father's Day (and any other shopping)

Go to Amazon Smile and link your account to APN.

Go to iGive and select Americans for Peace Now before shopping.

APN joins the Progressive Coalition at New York City's Celebrate Israel Parade - Sunday, June 5

APN volunteers displaying the Peace Now flag (photos courtesy of Michael Brochstein)

Together with supporters of T'ruah, Partners for Progressive Israel, and New Israel Fund, APN demonstrated the strong and vibrant American Jewish community in support of Israel and a just and peaceful society.

APN's Lara Friedman: "49 years: The difficult truths of this conflict"
June 6, 2016, marked the 49th anniversary of Israel's miraculous victory in the Six Day War...(it) also marked the beginning of Israel's catastrophic policy of open-ended, ever-deepening military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip...This occupation can and must end; 49 years is too long, but it is not too late.

APN's Ori Nir: "Erosion of Democracy: The Greatest Threat to Israel's National Security"
Speaking at the Israeli Embassy, Nir spoke frankly about the impact of Israel's occupation: "No society can rule over another people for so long -- half a century -- with no end in sight, and not be impacted by it."

Times of Israel: "Reform leader says NGO bill would 'weaken Israel's moral and civic fabric'"

Peace Now activists protest an NGO funding bill proposed by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked outside her residence in Tel Aviv, December 26, 2015. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Rabbi Jonah Pesner calls legislation an attempt to demonize groups critical of Israeli policies

Schedule for the APN 2016 Israel Study Tour

The working schedule has been released for APN's 2016 Israel Study Tour, November 12-17. From Jerusalem to Tel Aviv to the South and North of Israel, this trip offers an experience unlike any other.

Go HERE for the Study Tour Schedule, and how to secure your spot on it.

Contact us at IsraelTour@peacenow.org or 202-408-9898 with any questions.

Shavuot - still working for the two-slate solution

For the holiday that celebrates the giving of the Torah, we offer this cartoon as a reminder that the two-state solution is anchored in a two-slate solution.

"It is impossible to continue having people in a reality in which you are occupying them, while thinking that they will reach a conclusion that everything is fine and that life can continue as is."

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, during a radio interview following the tragic terrorist attack in his city where four Israelis were murdered.

Go HERE for more excerpts of the Huldai interview.

Go HERE for APN's statement condemning last week's Tel Aviv terror attack.

Yossi Alpher is an independent Israeli security analyst. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

June 14, 2016 - Orlando and Sarona; Netanyahu in Moscow

Q. The Sarona (Tel Aviv) and Orlando terrorist attacks have provoked a lot of analysis in Israel regarding shared characteristics. Can you comment?

A. Both attacks were perpetrated by young men acting apparently as "lone wolves"...Islamist propaganda disseminated by social media appears to have played an important role in inciting violent acts...

Q. Can you address the additional unique elements of the Sarona attack of June 8 that seem to have made it so traumatic?

A. First, considering the "lone wolf" aspect, the attack was quite sophisticated...

Q. Netanyahu traveled to Moscow last week for his fourth meeting in a year with President Putin. During that time, Netanyahu met only once with President Obama. What does this tell us about Netanyahu’s strategic world view?

A. ...the Russian military presence in Syria not far from the Syrian-Israeli border requires constant coordination at the tactical level...

APN Legislative Round-Up: June 7-10

1. Bills, Resolutions, and Letters
2. FY17 NDAA – Senate Madness Continues
3. Hearings
4. On the Record

Help APN while purchasing gifts for Father's Day (and any other shopping)

Go to Amazon Smile and link your account to APN.

Go to iGive and select Americans for Peace Now before shopping.

WATCH >

Forward: "Anti-Defamation League Stands Almost Alone Against Communal Push for Anti-BDS Measures"

Among organizations belonging, like ADL, to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the mainstream communal umbrella group, only one other group, the dovish Americans for Peace Now, has opposed anti-BDS laws.

"My impression is that it's been pretty much a wall-to-wall consensus," said Lara Friedman of Americans for Peace Now, referring to her Presidents Conference colleagues.

APN now on Instagram!

Adding to its already prominent place in social media, APN in now on Instagram.

Go HERE to see the first graphics and to follow APN's new Instagram.

Yossi Alpher to speak at APN events in Los Angeles and the Berkshires (Western MA)

Alpher, whose latest book No End of Conflict: Rethinking Israel-Palestine has just been released, will be the featured speaker at these events:

Los Angeles

* Thursday, June 23 - LA World Affairs Council Dinner
* Friday, June 24 - APN Lunch Program - Hard Questions, Tough Answers LIVE!

Go HERE for more information and to make a reservation for the events in Los Angeles.

Berkshires

* Sunday, June 26 - APN Luncheon in the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. Go HERE for the invitation and to make a reservation.

Reserve your space on the APN 2016 Israel Study Tour

From Jerusalem to Tel Aviv to the South and North of Israel, this trip offers an experience unlike any other. Look at the working schedule for APN's 2016 Israel Study Tour, November 12-17, and make a reservation to participate. Space is limited.

Go HERE for the Study Tour Schedule, and how to secure your spot on it.

Contact us at IsraelTour@peacenow.org or 202-408-9898 with any questions.

"Teach your pupils that there is no occupation!"

Israel's Deputy Minister of Defense, Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan, to Israeli graduates of the Talpiot teachers' college.

Yossi Alpher is an independent Israeli security analyst. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

June 20, 2016 - Barak on fascism, is ISIS losing, Lieberman on Gaza

Q. Prominent Israeli former government and security officials spoke out last week very bluntly against Netanyahu and his government. Could this be the beginning of serious change?

A. Frankly, and sadly, I doubt it...

Q. Is ISIS losing the battle for the Levant? Is the Obama approach winning?

A. Not just in Iraq and Syria but in Libya as well, ISIS has in recent months been losing territory steadily...

Q. Are there lessons here for Israel regarding Hamas in Gaza?

A. ...a "senior source" in the Ministry of Defense--almost certainly newly-anointed defense minister Avigdor Lieberman himself--told a journalist that in the next round of fighting with Hamas in Gaza, Israel must conquer and reoccupy the entire Strip and replace Hamas rule there...

APN Legislative Round-Up: June 17

1. Bills, Resolutions, and Letters
2. FY17 DOD Appropriations Bill
3. Hearings
4. On the Record

The Times of Israel: "Livni: Settlers run Israeli government’s national agenda"

Zionist Union number two says Barak, Ya'alon's criticism of Netanyahu important, reiterates call for referendum on two-state solution

APN Written Testimony Submitted to the Democratic and Republican Platform Committees

APN believes both political parties can and should use their respective platforms to articulate fundamental truths and principles, namely:

• Unshakeable support for Israel's security
• Unequivocal affirmation of the two-state solution
• Categorical rejection of violence, incitement and creation of facts on the ground which undermine the two-state solution
• Standing up for Israel

APN's latest editorial cartoon shows some of what "Bibi's wall" is holding back...

Watch Yossi Alpher's remarks from yesterday's gathering in Washington, D.C.

APN, with suite-mate New Israel Fund, hosted a lunch with Yossi Alpher in their Washington, D.C. offices, where he discussed the peace impasse, the dangerous slippery slope Israel and the Palestinians are on, and the need to adopt a new agenda both in Israel and the US.

WATCH >

"There is something that happens to those who go to serve as Heads of Mossad and Shin-Bet. Something in this post turns them into leftists."

David Bitan (Likud), Israeli Government Coalition Chairman, while speaking at a cultural event in Beersheba.

Yossi Alpher is an independent Israeli security analyst. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

June 27, 2016 - All those new schemes for dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Q. Perhaps you'll start with the most prominent plan: the unilateral security plan presented by some 300 retired generals and senior security personnel known as "Commanders for Israeli security."

A. Under the heading "Agreements Out, Arrangements In", the commanders' plan proposes a regional yet unilateral process to consolidate political-security arrangements with the Palestinians and the Arab States...

Q. Does the commanders' plan connect with the two-state security plan developed by a team of Americans, Israelis, Egyptians, Palestinians and Jordanians that was recently unveiled in Washington?

A. A number of the 300-strong commanders are on this team too...

Q. Then there is the very different "Two States, One Homeland plan".

A. This is very much a local Israeli-Palestinian initiative whose boosters include a number of relatively moderate settlers...

Q. How about recent references by prominent Jordanians to the idea of a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation as a way of alleviating Israeli concerns regarding the emergence of a Palestinian state?

A. This is in some ways a Jordanian version of the "Arab solution" that PM Netanyahu and Defense Minister Lieberman, as well as other prominent Israeli right-wingers and a few left-wingers, like to talk about...

Q. To sum up. . .

A. Under present circumstances, wherein both Israel and the Palestinians suffer from an acute leadership deficit, all these ideas are non-starters. Their very provenance attests to growing alarm and despair in many circles over the future of the two-state model. Still, it’s good to have them on the agenda.

Al-Monitor: "Why so many of Israel's security hawks have become doves"

When the chairman of the Likud argued June 25 that serving in the Mossad and the Shin Bet turns their chiefs into leftists, it kicked off a political storm.

Ha'aretz: "The Multimillion Dollar Panama Channel to West Bank Settlements"

The Amana movement that carries out settlement construction in the West Bank has been receiving tens of millions from a mystery company in the Central American tax haven...

Stay informed on the Israel-Turkey agreement and all the Israel news

APN's News Nosh has been providing readers with Israel's news coverage of the significant Israel-Turkey reconciliation agreement signed on Monday.

Go HERE for the current and and recent editions of News Nosh, and to subscribe and receive the free daily email.

Yossi Alpher, Israeli Security Expert, speaks at APN sponsored events in several US locales

APN Berkshires Luncheon with Yossi Alpher, seen above with APN Board Member Letty Cottin Pogrebin (top right), and APN President and CEO Debra DeLee (bottom right)

Alpher, who pens the weekly Hard Questions, Tough Answers for APN, just completed a US tour with stops in New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles, and the Berkshire Mountains of Western MA.

Go HERE to see more pictures from the Alpher tour.

APN now on Instagram!

Adding to its already prominent place in social media, APN in now on Instagram.

Go HERE to see the first graphics and to follow APN's new Instagram.