APN Update: Alpher on Azaria case, listen and subscribe to "Peacecast", Huffington Post op-ed, Bubis lecture video and more

Americans for Peace Now
Americans for Peace Now: January 11, 2017


If you and I agree on the bill, I’ll do everything I can so that you’ll be here as long as you like. I’m looking you in the eye and saying this in the clearest way possible."

Arnon Mozes, publisher of the Yedioth Achronoth newspaper, in a private conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu as reported by Israel Channel Two News. Mozes was referring to the bill that would curb his rival Israel Hayom's share of the market.


Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher

 

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

January 9, 2017 - The Elor Azaria case

Q. Last week a military court convicted a soldier of manslaughter in the killing of a wounded and neutralized terrorist in Hebron. Why did this trial cause such a commotion in Israel? Why isn’t the Elor Azaria case just another “casualty” of the occupation?

A....Israelis’ attitudes toward the army and its values are changing...

Q. But aren’t cases like this usually handled by the army, within the ranks, without so much publicity?

A. ...The difference in the Azaria case is embodied in a combination of...

Q. So how does this affect Israeli society? Aren’t the extremists a relatively small minority?

A. They are. But they are operating in a highly permissive public atmosphere that embraces Azaria...

Q. Still, Minister of Defense Lieberman has moved from sympathy for Azaria to a position of resolute support for Eizenkot and the IDF justice system. All the relevant figures have now line up behind the next steps: sentencing and either reduction of sentence or a pardon. Isn’t this becoming “old news”?

A. True, the pace of events in Israel has as usual guaranteed that the public is now preoccupied with something else...

Q. Okay, so this is standard procedure for armies. But are there broader ramifications to the Azaria case?

A. ...the IDF and especially Chief of Staff Eizenkot emerge from this affair as pillars of decency...

Q. Was Azaria mistaken in assuming that all terrorists should die? Doesn’t the "coup de grace" ("confirming killing" in IDF parlance) happen at other times when there are no cameras around? Doesn't Israel maintain an entirely separate--and far more severe--penal system for terrorists as opposed to common criminals?

A. Whether left or right, the issue is first, the occupation, and second, the nature of the military’s behavior in enforcing the occupation after 50 years...

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Government Relations

APN Legislative Round-Up: January 6, 2017

  1. Bills and Resolutions Related to the Recent UNSC settlements Resolution/Obama Abstention
  2. Bills and Resolutions Related to Moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
  3. Bills and Resolutions Related to Cutting Off UN Funding
  4. Bills and Resolutions Related Iran – AUMF and Sanctions
  5. Congress Panders to AIPAC et al on Settlements UNSCR
  6. Congress on David Friedman Nomination
  7. On the Record on Other Things

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APN Audio

APN releases Episode #2 of PeaceCast

PeaceCast, a podcast produced by APN in Washington, explores issues and trends relating to peace and security for Israel, focusing on its conflict with the Palestinians and efforts to resolve it.

Episode #2 features an interview with Lieutenant Colonel (Res.) Amos Guiora, the former commander of the IDF's School of Law, about the Azaria Trial, the IDF, and Israeli Society.

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Go HERE for the PeaceCast home page that has links to all available episodes, and subscribe to PeaceCast through the podcast app on your smartphone/device.


Recommended Reading

Huffington Post: "Think Trump’s Policies on Israel-Palestine Have Nothing to Do with You? Think Again"

By Lara Friedman

Many Americans doubtless believe that the policies of the next president regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have nothing to do with them. They’re mistaken.

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Washington Post: "What do Israelis think about settlements? Turns out age matters"

...the issue of Israeli settlements is not just an issue of demographic change...settlements’ contribution to the erosion of the pre-1967 Green Line in the mind-set of the younger generation of Israeli Jews may prove to be the more formidable challenge.

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Video of 6th Annual Professor Gerald B. Bubis Lecture featuring Lara Friedman

Rabbi Ed Feinstein of event host and co-sponsor Valley Beth Shalom and APN's Lara Friedman.

The Professor Gerald B. Bubis Lecture, established by the APN board of directors upon his retirement from it, featured APN Director of Policy and Government Relations Lara Friedman. The event was held shortly after she provided testimony at the United Nations Security Council special session on Israeli Settlements.

WATCH >


In The News

APN's News Nosh brings the Israeli headlines to you

As with all editions of APN's daily News Nosh, headlines like the ongoing investigation into Prime Minister Netanyahu are listed along with a brief summary of news and analysis in an an easy-to-read format.

Go HERE for the daily News Nosh feed, and to subcribe to receive it as an email.


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APN Update: The Inaugural, Alpher vs. Stephens, meet Avi Buskila, our latest Pod-Cast, and more

Americans for Peace Now
Americans for Peace Now: January 19, 2017


"Settlements are creating a reality on the ground that increasingly will make a two-state solution impossible."

President Barack Obama, during his final press conference as President, January 18, 2017


Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher

 

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

January 17, 2017 - The four most recent treatments of the Israel-Palestine issue; Netanyahu’s legal troubles

Q. The past week or so has witnessed the publication of four new or renewed treatments of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and ways to deal with it. Can you address them? Let’s start with Stephens...

A.Stephens, a former editor of the Jerusalem Post who is identified with the Israeli right, offers a basket of arguments against a Palestinian state...

Q. On to the Eizenstat-Ross “Plan B”.

A. Eizenstat and Ross recognize that a two-state solution is not currently possible, but they have a proposal for interim measures...

Q. Did the Paris Conference indeed save the two-state solution?

A. The 70 countries’ senior representatives who met in Paris certainly registered their anguish over the direction Israel and Palestine are moving...

Q. Finally, the “Commanders”, some 250 retired generals and heads of Israel’s security community, published a provocative ad in the Israeli press and on billboards. It states, in Arabic, “We’ll soon be the majority” and sends the public to a recorded message. Any hope here?

A. ...The current provocative ad is an attempt to jolt the public into understanding, as the Commanders’ phone message states, that 2.5 million West Bank Palestinians will not disappear....

Q. Granted that little of this overly concerns PM Netanyahu, who eagerly awaits a friendly Trump administration. But how do you address the current corruption investigation against him? Could this be the end of his leadership tenure? And if so, what could this mean for the Palestinian issue?

A. ...we are confronted with hard evidence of what appear to be serious offenses...

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Government Relations

APN Legislative Round-Up: January 13, 2017

  1. Bills and Resolutions Related to the Recent UNSC settlements Resolution/Obama Abstention
  2. Hill Initiatives Related to Moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
  3. Bills and Resolutions Related to Cutting Off UN Funding
  4. Bills and Resolutions Related Iran
  5. Bills and Resolutions Related to Other Things
  6. Confirmation Hearings - Key Excerpts
  7. On the Record

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APN Statement on The Inauguration of President Trump

APN's statement to be released on Friday morning begins with: Under normal circumstances, Americans for Peace Now (APN) would today be welcoming the inauguration of the new U.S. president, wishing him success and urging him to take action toward peace between Israel and her neighbors. Today’s circumstances are not normal.

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Shalom Achshav Executive Director visits Washington

Avi Buskila,Shalom Achshav’s executive director, met with administration officials, policy experts, APN supporters and activists, representatives of fellow pro-peace organizations, journalists, as well as a group of Israelis living in the Washington area.

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APN Audio

APN PeaceCast, Episode #3, "The 50-Year Tipping Point" featuring Oded Haklai

Canadian-Israeli scholar Oded Haklai talks about his recent poll that found the occupation-ignorance tipping point among Israelis is the age of 50, exactly the length of the occupation.

LISTEN > Share

 

Go HERE for the PeaceCast home page that has links to all available episodes, and subscribe to PeaceCast through the podcast app on your smartphone/device.


In The News

APN's News Nosh brings the Israeli headlines to you

From today's News Nosh: ...outgoing US President Barack Obama said, “I continue to be worried about the Israeli-Palestinian issue because the status quo is unsustainable,” while President-elect Donald Trump told Israel Hayom he will move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, "and I'm not a person who breaks promises,".

APN's News Nosh will be an informative resource on the impact of the Trump Presidency on Israel-related issues..

Go HERE for the daily News Nosh feed, and to subcribe to receive it as an email.


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APN Update - A must read Alpher, don't be a "freier," whose side are you on? the Inauguration and more

Americans for Peace Now
Americans for Peace Now: January 24, 2017


"When quoting President Trump we are dealing with a highly inflated ego, a totally unique take on truth and facts, and someone who changes his position at the flick of a tweet."

Yossi Alpher, Israeli security expert, in this week's Hard Questions, Tough Answers (see below).


Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher

 

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

January 23, 2017 - Trump and Israel: the beginning

Q. We’re having this discussion barely three days after the inauguration. What can we say at such an early stage regarding Trump and Israel?

A....he and his young administration have already said things we cannot ignore when it comes to America and Israel...

Q. Start with the inauguration speech.

A....Trump’s dramatic inaugural address must be understood as a foundational document of his administration...

Q. But hasn’t Trump already pledged that his son-in-law would tackle the peace process? And hasn’t his administration declared it was beginning to deal with moving the US embassy to Jerusalem?

A. ...the likelihood of Kushner successfully brokering Israeli-Palestinian peace is low, if not zero...As for the embassy move, could Trump actually be listening to the warnings from the Arab world?...

Q. Where do “alternative facts” enter the US-Israel picture?

A. ...we have to ask ourselves what the Trump team’s world of alternative facts means for the most sensitive dimensions of the Israeli-American partnership...

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Recommended Reading

Medium: "Israel's Freedom Riders" by APN Board Member Mik Moore

American Jews are justifiably proud of those from our community who put their personal safety on the line to end Jim Crow in the South. Yet we ignore or condemn those from our community who put their personal safety on the line to end Jim Crow in the West Bank.

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APN in Action

APN to Trump: Don't be a "Freier"

Soon after President Trump was sworn in, the Israeli Government announced the promotion of approximately 2,500 settlement housing units, the largest amount since previous negotiations were held.

APN warns President Trump about acquiescing to a series of West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements-related measures taken or intended to be taken by the Government of Israel. We urge President Trump to not let the Israeli right-wing make a "freier" (Hebrew for "sucker") out of him, but instead to stand up to both Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and to the settlement supporters who are prominently represented among Trump's own supporters and advisors.

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Peace Now: "Netanyahu is taking advantage of the presidential transition in the United States in order to appease the settlers... Instead of jeopardizing the two-state solution, it is time for Netanyahu to take responsibility for the future of Israel by halting settlement construction and assuring the future of Israel as both Jewish and democratic."

 


APN Statement on The Inauguration of President Trump

APN's statement begins with: Under normal circumstances, Americans for Peace Now (APN) would today be welcoming the inauguration of the new U.S. president, wishing him success and urging him to take action toward peace between Israel and her neighbors. Today’s circumstances are not normal.

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Whose side are you on? - Support APN's "Facts on the Ground 2.0"

APN is developing the new version of its unique "Facts on the Ground" Map App to help fight back against settlement expansion and to preserve the two-state solution.

Go HERE for more on this project, and to help support it.

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