"It must be said honestly: this is the price we are paying for sitting in the midst of a hostile Arab population...There needs to be political courage here, and there need to be other things from what we have done so far."

Former deputy head of Mossad Ram Ben-Barak, to Israel Television Channel 10 news, 1 July 2016 (commenting on the latest Palestinian terrorist attacks).

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.

July 5, 2016 - Turkey and Israel

Q. Last week, after six years of crisis-ridden relations, Israel and Turkey agreed on a formula for reconciling and normalizing their relations. What did this entail?

A. Israel agreed to pay $20 million in indirect compensation for the death of nine Turks in the May 2010 Mavi Marmara incident...Turkey agreed to block all legal action against Israeli officers involved in the incident and to restore full and normal diplomatic relations with Israel...dropped its demand that Israel end its blockade of Gaza...undertook to block Hamas militant activity...assist in efforts to repatriate to Israel two IDF soldiers missing in action...

Q. This comes across as a one-sided deal: Israel seems to have achieved much more than Turkey.

A. Indeed...

Q. What are those Turkish weaknesses that Netanyahu leveraged?

A. Turkey's acute strategic dilemmas with Syria, Russia, the Kurds and ISIS...

Q. And the Israel-Egypt-Turkey triangle?

A. Egypt has not openly criticized the Israel-Turkey deal...

Q. Last week witnessed a deal with Turkey, and this week Netanyahu is expanding Israel's ties with the countries of East Africa. Is there a broad Israeli regional strategy at work here?

A. That appears to be the case...

Q. The bottom line?

A. Netanyahu's deal with Turkey reflects a largely successful effort to expand Israel's regional and international reach and to minimize the import of the Palestinian issue at the regional level...

APN Legislative Round-Up: June 18 - July 1, 2016

1. Bills, Resolutions and Letters
2. FY17 ForOps Season Opens: House Bill
3. FY17 ForOps Season Opens: Senate Bill
4. Hearings
5. On the Record

Korach: Challenger of the Status Quo?

APN volunteer and activist Barbara Green discusses the value and import of voicing dissent against the dangerous path being taken by Israel's right wing government today.

Do This, Not That - APN's new publication

Build Trust, Not Settlements and Draw Borders, Not Blood are two of the pages in APN's new publication

What we do and don't do does indeed influence the prospects for peace in the Middle East. Use APN as your resource, which helps educate on what it means to be pro-Israel and pro-peace.

Go   to see APN's timely and motivational publication.

Israeli and Palestinian New Story Leadership fellows visit APN

The short introductory meeting at APN in Washington, DC turned into a fascinating two-hour discussion about efforts for Israeli-Palestinian peace and prospects for a two-state solution.

APN held the introductory meeting in Washington, DC for the Israeli and Palestinian fellows of the New Story Leadesrhip program. For eight summers, APN has hosted an Israeli and Palestinian intern - sometimes in partnership with the American Tast Force on Palestine.

Peace Now Settlement Watch: Settlement Construction Is Not The Answer to Terrorism

It has been reported that following the deadly attacks against Israelis last week, the Israeli government is advancing plans for 800 housing units in East Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement.

Peace Now: "New housing units in the settlements will not prevent the next victims but rather strengthen the extremists on both sides...The real answer to terror is ending the occupation and reaching a negotiated agreement. Meanwhile, Israeli citizens will continue to pay the price of the extreme right-wing government's policies."

APN ad features Rabbi Michael Melchior - past Israeli minister, authoritative Jewish scholar, and peace activist

Rabbi Michael Melchior is a former Israeli Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, who has been awarded with numerous prizes for his work on tolearance, bridge-building, peace, and reconciliation.

Politico: "Netanyahu vs. the Generals"
By Amir Tibbon

Israel's prime minister is fighting hard to weaken the most important moderate force in his country. Which is why he's going to be a big problem for the next U.S. president.

"(It is permissible for Israeli soldiers) to satisfy the evil inclination by sleeping with beautiful gentile women against their will, out of consideration for the soldiers' hardships and for the sake of general success."

From a previous statement made by Rabbi Colonel Eyal Krim, newly IDF-appointed Chief Rabbi. Female MKs and women's organizations have called to immediately revoke his appointment.

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.

July 11, 2016 - Netanyahu meets with Egyptian FM Shukry; Expanding Israel's spheres of strategic influence while internalizing the Palestinian issue

Q. Last week, PM Netanyahu followed up Israel's rapprochement with Turkey by meeting in East Africa with seven regional leaders. Then on Sunday this week, the Egyptian foreign minister visited Israel for the first time in nine years. What's behind this flurry of diplomatic and strategic activity?

A. Netanyahu appears intent on creating a number of spheres of close strategic cooperation around Israel...

Q. Last week you talked about Israel and Turkey. Moving on to East Africa, what specifically is the strategic backdrop?

A. Israel began developing strategic relations with a variety of African countries beginning in the 1950s...

Q. Shukry presumably also wanted to talk to Netanyahu about Israeli-Turkish relations.

A. This brings us back to the events of last May...

Q. But does the right-wing Netanyahu government with its strong pro-settler element really have anything to talk about with the Arabs concerning the Palestinian issue?

A. On the face of it, there is little in common between the Egyptian and Israeli positions regarding a Palestinian state...

Q. So why do the Egyptians bother?

A. Egypt's concerns regarding Netanyahu’s Ethiopia/Nile visit and the Erdogan-Netanyahu deal are apparently reason enough to touch base in Jerusalem for a day...

Q. Returning to Netanyahu's seemingly successful drive to establish Israeli spheres of strategic influence in the region and beyond, what's next, and what might this signify for the Palestinian issue?

A. ...Netanyahu's diplomatic maneuvers in Addis Abeba, Ankara and even Cairo might be impressive. But he still has no viable strategy whatsoever for maintaining Israel as a Zionist, Jewish and democratic state.

APN Legislative Round-Up: June 8, 2016

1. Bills, Resolutions and Letters
2. Hearings
3. On the Record

APN condemns new anti-democratic Israeli law

With the 57-48 passage of the anti-NGO bill by the Knesset, APN joins its Israeli sister organization, Peace Now (Shalom Achshav), in strongly condemning it as a blatant violation of freedom of expression. APN supports Peace Now's intention to challenge the new law before Israel's Supreme Court.

Go HERE for the useful JTA op-ed by APN's Lara Friedman from earlier this year: "No comparison between Israeli NGO bill and US law."

Tell President Obama and Secretary Kerry: Take action in the United Nations Security Council

Now is the time for real leadership that can revive and re-accredit the two-state solution. President Obama can lay the groundwork for a future agreement by supporting an Israeli-Palestinian two-state resolution in the United Nations Security Council.

APN's Proud Record on BDS

APN stands firmly against a blanket boycott of Israel, and believes the most effective way to challenge BDS is to recognize and reject the pro-settlement, anti-peace policies that feed it.

Go HERE for more on APN's efforts, including support for activism targeted squarely at settlements and the occupation, and against congressional and state-level efforts that exploit fighting BDS to support settlements and erode constitutionally-protected rights to free speech and political protest.

Israeli Gov't moves to approve new settlement housing, retroactively legalize outposts

Peace Now: Netanyahu is signaling to Israel's most important allies that he is not interested in peace and two states but rather in the continuation of the occupation.

Go HERE for more on the revelation of plans for nearly 2000 new settlement housing units.

Go HERE for Jerusalem Post: 14 West Bank settler outposts to be legalize, 20 already approved"

Forward: "Why Israel's Mossad and Shin Bet Leaders Are Morphing Into 'Leftists'"
By JJ Goldberg

...The startling fact is that military expertise, familiarity with Israel's current capabilities and its neighbors' intentions, seems to lead Israel’s defense professionals almost unavoidably to the prescriptions identified with the left.

"...the law's purpose is to encourage popular hostility against Israeli advocates of human and minority rights. "

Yossi Alpher, in his discussion about Israel's newly enacted "NGO Law" in Hard Questions, Tough Answers (see below).

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.

July 18, 2016 - Deterring human rights advocacy in Israel; terror in Nice; coup in Turkey

Q. On July 11, the Knesset passed a bill that stigmatizes human rights NGOs (non-governmental organizations, or non-profits) in Israel by obliging them to constantly and blatantly publicize funding they receive from foreign governments. What’s wrong with this measure?

A. ...A multitude of important matters of principle and of ethics that bear directly upon the dangerous course the mainstream right has set for the state of Israel...

Q. The truck attack in Nice on Bastille Day, July 14 no longer appears unusual. Can you add anything of relevance to the multitude of commentary we have heard and read already?

A. Two comments made in the aftermath by France's political leadership are worthy of our attention...

Q. And what was relevant about the failed military coup in Turkey?

A. From Israel's standpoint, a lot. Israel just reached a rapprochement with President Erdogan, Turkish aid to Gaza has begun to flow, the countries plan to exchange ambassadors within weeks, and PM Netanyahu successfully "cleared" the deal with the Russians and the Egyptians...

APN to receive "Narrative Leadership" award

APN will be honored this Thursday for its key role and partnership in the NSL program that trains young emerging leaders from Palestine and Israel. APN has hosted interns and programs for the past eight years.

The "Iran Deal" at One Year: A Clear Win for the US and Israel

APN celebrates the achievement of the historic Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which after one year is already proving itself by radically rolling back and limiting Iran's nuclear program.

Go HERE for APN's resource page that includes links to statements from President Obama and recommended analyses and news commentary on the one-year anniversary.

Go HERE for a letter in praise of the Iran nuclear deal from 75 US national security leaders, and HERE to share it on Facebook.

The fourth in a series of security validators for APN features an American Statesman, General and former National Security Advisor

General Colin Powell: "Israeli settlement activity has seriously undermined Palestinian trust and hope. It pre-empts and prejudices the outcome of negotiations and, in does so, cripples chances for real peace and security."

The New York Jewish Week: Why I Do Call Israel Out On The Occupation

Ending the occupation is necessary for the sake of Israel's future as a liberal, humane, democratic society. To remain silent, is to be complicit, to be an enabler. It is unacceptable.

APN's Lara Friedman featured at NetRoots Nation

Friedman spoke on the panel "What Does it Mean to be Progressive on Israel and Palestine?" at the national conference held July 14-17, in St. Louis.

"Inshallah, we will meet in Riyadh."

Saudi Arabian Gen. (ret.) Anwar Eshki to a group of Jewish members of Knesset he met with in East Jerusalem. Read more from APN's News Nosh.

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.

July 25, 2016 - Annexing a settlement? Saudis in Israel? Turkish purge? Netanyahu taking on the media?

Q. Netanyahu's ruling coalition has initiated a move in the Knesset to apply Israeli law to the settlement of Maaleh Adumim. What will this mean if the law is approved?

A. this would be the first territory in the West Bank (leaving aside greater Jerusalem) that is annexed by Israel (annexation being the international legal equivalent of applying Israeli law)...almost certainly be understood by the PLO as a final blow to the legitimacy of the Oslo accords, thereby generating an instant crisis in Israeli-Palestinian relations and in Israel's international standing...(the pro-settler right-wing advocates) openly acknowledge that applying Israeli law to Maaleh Adumim is a trial balloon designed to accustom the Israeli public and the world to further Israeli annexations...

Q. Indeed, last week a Saudi delegation visited Israel, led by a retired general. A breakthrough?

A. ...this must be understood as something of a breakthrough...

Q. Apropos another Muslim neighbor that just patched up relations with Israel, in the aftermath of the abortive military coup in Turkey President Erdogan appears intent on purging tens of thousands of ostensibly disloyal officers, educators and civil servants. Is this an Islamist counter-revolution?

A. Islamist counter-revolution is increasingly the only way we can describe what is emerging in Turkey...

Q. How could this development affect Turkey domestically? How could it affect Israel and the region?

A. The ramifications are potentially far-reaching...

Q. Erdogan, as noted, is clamping down on Turkish media. Is Netanyahu trying to do something similar in Israel?

A. Netanyahu is legendarily paranoid about the way the Israeli media treats him...

APN Legislative Round-Up: July 9-20

1. JCPOA Bday Week: Iran-Focused Bills Passed by the House
2. JCPOA Bday Week: New Iran-Focused Bills & Resolutions
3. JCPOA Bday Week: Action on Existing Iran-Focused Bills & Resolutions
4. JCPOA Bday Week: Iran-Focused Letters
5. Other Bills, Resolutions & Letters (Not Focused Solely on Iran)
6. Hearings (more Iran here, too!)
7. On the Record: Slamming the JCPOA, Supporting Iran bills, etc.
8. On the Record: Defending the JCPOA, Opposing Iran bills, etc.
9. On the Record: About Everything Other Than Iran

Peace Now Settlement Watch Director in Washington Post article

Hagit Ofran, director of Peace Now Settlement Watch: "Every new construction in any settlement will make reaching a peace deal much, much harder...We are already in a situation that when we get to a peace agreement for two states, Israel will have to pay a high price removing thousands of Israelis from their homes in settlements."

The fifth in a series of security validators for APN features the former US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice

"The United States sees the establishment of a Palestinian state and of a two-state solution as absolutely essential for the future, not just for Palestinians and Israelis but also for the Middle East and, indeed, American interests."

Debra DeLee, APN President and CEO, on panel in Philadelphia in connection to Democratic National Convention

The discussion in Philadelphia during the Democratic National Convention features APN President and CEO Debra DeLee, Americans for a Vibrant Palestinian Economy Chairman Sam Bahour, Columnist and Author Peter Beinart, and Arab American Institute Founder and President James Zogby.

Note from APN's Ori Nir in Jerusalem

Greetings from Jerusalem! I'm here to prepare APN's 2016 Israel Study Tour, which will be November 12-17. I've met with Israelis and Palestinians, and discussed plans for the tour with my friends at Israel's Peace Now movement. This will be an engaging, fascinating tour, and I hope you will join us.

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.

APN receives "Narrative Leadership" award

Accepting the award and speaking at the New Story Leadership event: (from L to R) APN's Aaron Mann, APN Interns Mohammed Manasrah (Palestine), Chen Attar (Israel)

APN was honored in Washington, DC for its key role and partnership in the New Story Leadership program that trains young emerging leaders from Palestine and Israel. APN has hosted interns and programs for the past eight years.

Peace Now at Jerusalem's March for Pride and Tolerance

Pictured are some of the Peace Now activists who participated in the July 21 March for Pride and Tolerance in Jerusalem, which drew estimates of 25,000 people.