Where We Stand

APN has long been the most courageous, principled voice of Americans who support Israel and know that only peace will ensure Israel’s security, prosperity and continued viability as a Jewish state and a democracy.  Positions advocated for more than two decades by APN and its Israeli sister organization Shalom Achshav (Peace Now) – like calling for the creation of a viable Palestinian state, freezing and evacuation of settlements, and Jerusalem serving as the capital of both Israel and the future Palestinian state – are now recognized by most American Jews and Israelis as basic requirements both for peace and for a secure future for Israel.

APN’s mission is reflected in the following core positions/principles, which animate our work:

 We believe unequivocally that Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab peace are essential to Israel’s security, well-being, and viability as a Jewish state and a democracy. We firmly believe that peace between Israel and its neighbors is a key U.S. national security interest. We recognize the tragic costs, now and for future generations, of failing to make peace.

• We are deeply opposed to Israeli settlement creation and expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlement enterprise is a major obstacle to peace, undermines Israel’s security, and threatens Israel’s viability as a Jewish state and a democracy.

• We know that the achievement of Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab peace will require the establishment of a sovereign state of Palestine, living in peace and security alongside Israel, both within recognized borders.

• We embrace the two-state solution as the only viable option for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, knowing that neither Israelis nor Palestinians will – or should be expected to – give up their desire for self-determination in their own state, recognizing that there is no zero-sum victory possible for either side, and knowing that in this context, the only alternative to the two-state solution is prolonged violence and bloodshed.

• We believe that Israelis and Palestinians, with support and pressure from the international community, must negotiate the details of a peace agreement that will result in two states.  The borders of these states must be based on the 1967 lines, including the removal of most settlements and with any changes in those lines achieved through mutually agreed-on land swaps.  An agreement must enable and support the emergence of a state of Palestine that is maximally contiguous and politically and economically viable, with its capital in East Jerusalem. 

• Such a solution will entail historic and painful compromises for both Israelis and Palestinians.  Israelis will have to relinquish the goals of establishing "Greater Israel" in an area encompassing the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria – the present-day West Bank –and of maintaining control over East Jerusalem.  Palestinians will have to relinquish the goal of regaining control over the 78% of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea that they view as "Historic Palestine," agree to find solutions for the Palestinian refugee issue largely outside the borders of the state of Israel, and accept intrusive security arrangements necessary to address Israel's legitimate concerns.  

• We insist without apology that any peace agreement must be predicated on recognition of Israel’s legitimate security needs and the inalienable right of the Jewish people for a national home in the land of Israel, alongside recognition of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to dignity, independence, and self-determination in a sovereign, independent state of Palestine.