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. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.
Six people were injured in a shooting attack by a Palestinian gunman today in Maale Adumim, a large West Bank settlement east of Jerusalem. Americans for Peace Now (APN) strongly condemns this terrorist attack and wishes full recovery to the people who were hurt.
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. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.
A collection of US organizations today issued the following statement regarding the judicial crisis in Israel.
On Monday, Israel’s governing coalition passed a law that would allow the government and its agencies to take steps that would otherwise be deemed by the Supreme Court as unreasonable and therefore illegal. The law would prohibit the Court from challenging executive branch measures on the grounds of reasonability.
The so-called “Reasonability Law,” is not only repugnant on its merits, but is also alarming because it is the first in a series of laws planned by the government, which are designed to eliminate checks on its power and pave the path for policies that would transform the very character of the State of Israel. Among these policies is a plan, anchored in coalition agreements signed by Netanyahu’s Likud Party, to officially annex the West Bank to Israel. The ongoing process of annexation is catastrophic for Israelis and Palestinians.
We welcome the expressions of deep concern coming from US elected officials – in the White House, on Capitol Hill and throughout the nation – as well as similar reactions by US Jewish organizations, including ones that seldom publicly criticize the government of Israel. We urge the Biden administration, Congress, other elected officials and opinion leaders, as well as fellow US Jewish organizations, to help protect Israel from the irresponsible actions of its current government. Not doing so would make a mockery of America’s commitment to the shared values that we cherish as the foundation for the US-Israel “special relationship.”
We salute, applaud, and stand in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have taken to the streets in protest. At the same time, we recognize that the persistent instability in Israel‘s political life is rooted in the ongoing occupation. Without a society-wide movement to address that, Israel’s democracy remains deeply flawed.
Americans for Peace Now (APN) condemns today’s Knesset vote on the so-called “reasonableness law” which bars
Israel’s Supreme Court from challenging unreasonable laws and executive measures. This vote is, according to the
very members who supported it, only the first step towards more unreasonable, anti-democratic legislation by the
government, including measures to move forward with the annexation of the West Bank and perpetuate the
occupation.
APN calls on the Biden administration to move past declarations of concern and respond by iterating the
concrete steps it will take in response to the actions of the Netanyahu government. APN also urges fellow American
Jewish organizations to speak out loudly and clearly against the anti-democratic trajectory of Israel under
Netanyahu’s government of nationalistic zealots.
APN strongly supports the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have been demonstrating for over six months
against the government and its anti-democratic policies and practices. We stand in solidarity with them and
encourage them to further escalate their protest. By embarking on its anti-democratic “legal reform” today, the
governing coalition underscored the protesters’ assertion that the government, while legally elected, is
illegitimate and should be treated as such.
We hope that some members of the ruling government coalition would appreciate and understand what the
demonstrators are concerned about, change course, and work to protect the rights of all citizens of Israel - Jewish
and non-Jewish alike. We also encourage Israelis to look beyond specific legislation to push for creating a
constitution that would protect all Israelis and avoid the fiasco that Israel has been experiencing in the past few
months.
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived.
1.Bills, Resolutions
& Letters
2.
Israeli President on the Hill
3. Thou Shalt Not Call Israel
“Racist”!
4.
Hearings & Events
5. Media & Reports
6. Members on the Record
(Israel/Palestine)
7. Members on the Record (Iran &
other Mideast countries)
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. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.
