"We have elevated the occupation to an art form ... And I'm asking, is this what we want to be? Every step we take should stem from one strategic goal - separation from the Palestinians."

Israeli Maj. General (res.) Gadi Shamni, former top IDF commander in the West Bank, at a conference at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.

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.

September 6, 2016 - The totally non-credible verbal war over settlements. The increasingly complex shooting war in northern Syria

Q. In late August a UN envoy called Israeli settlement construction an impediment to peace. A Netanyahu spokesperson retorted that the envoy was “distorting history and international law”. Is there anything new we can learn from this exchange?

A. ...there is indeed something to learn from this exchange...

Q. Turkey has invaded northern Syria and the US has given its blessing. Who are the winners and losers in this round of the seemingly endless Syrian civil war? What is the strategic significance?

A. The winners are the easiest to identify...

Q. But does Washington win or lose? Where does this leave US and Israeli strategic interests regarding the Syria issue and its regional and international ramifications?

A. It will now be harder for the US to achieve its declared objective of dislodging both Assad and his primary enemy in Syria, ISIS...

Settlement Watch: Major Victory for Peace Now

Israeli High Court orders evacuation of 17 structures in the illegal outpost of Derech Ha'Avot

+972 Magazine: "The metamorphosis of a Jewish supremacist"

David Mizrahi, once a vocal anti-Arab hatemonger, makes amends in a heartfelt Facebook post, and begins preaching tolerance and acceptance.

"Decision at 50" Initiative launched by Peace Now with other Israeli organizations

"After 50 years of Israeli control of the Palestinian Territories, the time has come to decide: a bi-national state or two states, annexation or a negotiated agreement, 50 more years of military rule or a diplomatic resolution."

In the 50th year of the occupation, the initiative demands a referendum on the future of Israel's rule over the West Bank and on peace with the Palestinians.

Go HERE for the Decision at 50 press release.

Go HERE to learn more about Decision at 50 and to sign up for updates.

Help fight against the Israel Government actions that are Fanning the Flames

The policies and actions of the current Israeli government are actively fanning the flames of violence, further entrenching and expanding occupation, and killing the two-state solution.

Go HERE to learn more about the latest outrages and what you can do to take action, including signing the APN petition to:

"Stop the land grabs, stop the settlement expansion"

Letter to the New York Times from APN's Jim Klutznick and Debra DeLee

In response to "Israel Quietly Legalizes Pirate Outposts in the West Bank", a letter to the editor from the APN leaders was published, and included: It is time for our government to put action behind its words, before settlements and the occupation nullify prospects for a two-state solution.

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"Like the term 'genocide,' the term 'ethnic cleansing' should be restricted to actually describing the atrocity it suggests - rather than distorted to suit political ends."

Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, in Foreign Policy: Sorry Bibi, the Palestinians Are Not 'Ethnic Cleansing' Jewish Settlers

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.

September 12, 2016 - New two-state peace initiatives coming up?

Q. The informed press and academia are rife with discussion of three new Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives that are reportedly being incubated: a set of "Obama principles", a Moscow summit, and an Israeli referendum. Can you discuss each in terms of potential content and advantages and disadvantages?

A. I first heard about the idea of President Obama presenting his own outline for Israeli-Palestinian peace about two years ago...

Q. Still, suppose Obama is determined to leave behind his own peace formula as part of his legacy. What would you recommend it contain? What should the concept be?

A. I would strongly counsel against another set of "Clinton parameters" presented in a presidential speech...

Q. PM Netanyahu seems to be contemplating steps to dissuade Obama from moving in this or any other direction, including a possible Moscow summit with Palestinian leader Abbas...

A. Netanyahu apparently genuinely fears an international initiative that attempts to dictate concessions he cannot or will not make...

>Q. You have an intelligence background. What do you make of these allegations (Mahmoud Abbas is somehow too intimate with the Russians)?

A. If the report is based solely on a document in Russian with two lines, as the Israeli scholars allege, I'm inclined to doubt its veracity...

Q. And the third initiative?

A. ..."Decision at 50" is a dynamic and intriguing idea...

"Decision at 50" Initiative launched by Peace Now with other Israeli organizations

In the 50th year of the occupation, the initiative demands a referendum on the future of Israel's rule over the West Bank and on peace with the Palestinians.

Go HERE to learn more about Decision at 50 and to sign up for updates.

Go HERE for APN's call to all Americans to support the referendum.

APN Board Members Steven Kaplan and Sandy Weiner Oped in L.A. Jewish Journal "Governor Brown should veto flawed BDS law"

The BDS controversy is best left to those who can educate, persuade and influence. This is an issue for public discourse, not confusing and muddled legislation.

Repudiate Netanyahu, Stop Israel land grabs and settlement expansion, Save a Palestinian village

Urge America's Jewish organizations to repudiate Netanyahu's "ethnic cleansing" comments

American Jewish organizations must condemn Prime Minister Netanyahu's outrageous comments for what they are: Cheap demagoguery, which exploits and minimizes horrible tragedies that Jews and others have suffered throughout history.

Sign our Petition: Tell Israel - Stop the land grabs, stop the settlement expansion.

Add your name to the message being sent to world leaders.

Save the Palestinian village of Sussya

This West Bank Palestinian village is on land long coveted by Israeli settlers and is slated for destruction.

APN's Lara Friedman in The Times of Israel: Bibi, Settlements and the "Ethnic Cleansing" Canard

It seems there is no line Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won't cross to defend settlements.

APN on the fallacy of settlement removal being ethnic cleansing

APN's online publication succinctly covers why removing Israeli settlers from occupied territory is not ethnic cleansing, but rather a necessary step for the Jewish State of Israel.

President Jimmy Carter, Convener of the Camp David Peace Agreement, 38 years ago this week

The Israel-Egypt peace agreement was signed on September 17, 1978, and without President Jimmy Carter, Israel's first and most crucial peace agreement would not have been secured.

Go HERE for President Carter's quote on his personal commitment to peace in the Holy Land

APN Mourns the Passing of Stanley Sheinbaum, Board Member and Liberal Activist

"For a while, I was the most hated Jew in America ... by other Jews anyway. (But,) I didn't waste time agonizing." -- Stanley Sheinbaum

APN President and CEO Debra DeLee: "Stanley broke barriers in so many arenas, particularly as relates to Middle East peace...he led a delegation of American Jews, most of them members of the APN family, to open the first discussions with the PLO. We owe much to his leadership and to his bold and fearless pursuit of peace. It will be hard to imagine this world and peace activism without him."

Go HERE to read the Jewish Journal's article about Stanley's remarkable life and accomplishments.

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"Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel, (and if) Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land."

President Barack Obama, speaking Tuesday before the General Assembly of the United Nations.

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.

September 19, 2016 - SPECIAL EDITION: Books of note

Q. The past five years of Middle East turmoil must have produced some interesting expert writing. What's the best book you’ve read lately on the Arab revolutionary wave?

A. Probably Jean-Pierre Filiu's From Deep State to Islamic State: the Arab Counter-Revolution and its Jihad Legacy...

Q. Books which analyze additional causes for the current chaos in the Arab world...

A. Emma Sky's The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq, a riveting and entertaining hands-on description of the failure of the 2003 US/UK invasion of Iraq and subsequent occupation...US military role historical depth is offered by Andrew Bacevich in America's War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History...

Q. And books on the Arab revolutions that add a more human dimension?

A. Another panoramic view, this time of the entire geography of the Arab Middle East, is provided by Robert F. Worth, a distinguished NY Times correspondent, in A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir square to ISIS...

Q. Anything else to recommend on the US role in the Middle East before the Arab revolutions?

A. Bruce Riedel's What We Won: America's Secret War in Afghanistan 1979-89...

Q. To round off the list, something on Israel and the Palestinians?

A. Something quite unique: Zionism in Arab Discourses, by Uriya Shavit and Ophir Winter, both of Tel Aviv University...

The Jewish People's Dual Narrative: Parshat Ki Tavo

Rabbi Susan P. Fendrick, editor, writer, teacher, and spiritual director, writes ...We carry the memory of victimization, which should keep us vigilant, and of eons of wandering, which should stoke our empathy.

Words Matter, Actions Matter More

Aviva Meyer, APN Vice Chair, has written the publication "Words Matter, Actions Matter More" which reflects the realities and opportunities that would, could, and should make a difference.

See a reproduction of the publication HERE

Thank you to the thousands of you who took action so far!

APN's Stephanie Breitsman delivers a stack of your letters to a State Department official urging a stronger response to settlement activities in Hebron and Amona.

The emails and letters you sent, and continue to send, have had a demonstrative impact. As an example, the Anti-Defamation League has now publicly renounced Prime Minister Netanyahu "ethnic cleansing" comments, and re-tweeted APN's support of them.

Urge America's Jewish organizations to repudiate Netanyahu's "ethnic cleansing" comments.

Sign our Petition: Tell Israel - Stop the land grabs, stop the settlement expansion. 

Save the West Bank Palestinian village of Sussya.

APN's Ori Nir in J Weekly: "American Jewish progressives must act to defend their values in Israel"

...it's hard to argue that real tolerance and open-mindedness are not an Israeli national security interest.

40% Increase in Construction Starts in the Settlements in the First Half of 2016

Data from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics shows that 1,195 housing units started to be constructed in the settlements in the first six months of 2016. Peace Now: Investments in the settlements do not only come on the expense of the Negev, the Galilee and the rest of Israel but also lead towards a one state reality.

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"A solution of two national states -- a Jewish state -- Israel; an Arab state -- Palestine. The Palestinians are our closest neighbors. I believe they may become our closest friends."

Shimon Peres, Former Israeli Prime Minister, President, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient (pictured receiving the prize), who passed away today at the age of 93.

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.

September 26, 2016 - The outgoing year, 5776

Q. Where did Israel position itself in the Middle East during the outgoing year?

A. From the standpoint of its own self-interest, Israel moved in two distinct and essentially contradictory directions......

Q. The Israel-US relationship appears to have suffered.

A. Definitely. Here too, the prism of two distinct strategic directions helps us understand what has happened......

Q. How did events in the surrounding Middle East affect the mood of Israelis?

A. Overall, Israelis seemed more frightened by the very visible Islamist onslaught in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya, coupled with the Assad regime's barbarism and Iran's machinations in the region, than encouraged by the behind-the-scenes Israel-Arab cooperation this has engendered......

Q. And the so-called "lone wolf intifada"? How did it affect Israelis?

A. The effect of Palestinian knifings and car-rammings of the past year appears to have meshed with the overall negative Israeli reaction to the surrounding Islamist revolutions and contributed to the country's increasingly jingoistic and at times messianic mood...

Q. What in your view are the prospects for progress between Israel and the Palestinians in the year ahead?

A. All other things being equal, both Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will remain in office and neither will evince a serious interest in the renewal of meaningful negotiations...

Q. To sum up the outgoing year?

A. On balance, and despite some bright spots of strategic achievement, 5776 was bad for Israeli interests and for US interests in the Middle East...

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APN Mourns the Death of Shimon Peres

Shimon Peres was an icon of Israel's founding generation, a visionary of peace and security for Israel, a dedicated leader who led Israel through wars and in the quest for peace. APN President and CEO Debra DeLee: "Shimon Peres' memory and legacy are a blessing to anyone who cares about Israel and its well being as a democracy that is guided by progressive values."

Prominent American Intellectuals Echo APN on Settlement Boycotts

The letter from more than 70 American intellectuals includes APN Board members Michael Walzer and Edward Witten.

APN warmly welcomes and endorses the open letter published in the New York Review of Books from more than 70 American intellectuals, whose message echoes and validates APN's position on the boycott of Israeli settlement goods.

Go HERE for more on APN's position and record on this issue.

APN Ad Series features Major General (res.) Gadi Shamni on the necessity of ending the occupation

The former military secretary to Israeli Prime Ministers Sharon and Olmert, military attache to the US, and top commander of IDF forces in the West Bank, recently said: "We have elevated the occupation to an art form...Every step we take should stem from one strategic goal - separation from the Palestinians."

Go HERE to see the entire ad.

Peace Parsha for the New Year

APN volunteer Barbara Green begins her Rosh Hashana thoughts with: This is an awkward time of the year for some secular Jews like me.