Trump's extremist, maverick pro-settler envoys, David Friedman and Jason Greenblatt, aren't resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They're fueling it - and Congress should investigate

With ten-pound hammers in their hands and ecstatic religious-nationalist zeal in their hearts, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and White House Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt stood underneath the most religiously volatile place on earth, and smashed a wall – and with it, any last semblance of reasonable U.S. policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) joins its Israeli sister organization, Shalom Achshav (Peace Now) in strongly condemning yesterday's participation by senior Trump administration officials in the opening of a tunnel dug in East Jerusalem by the extremist settler organization Elad. The tunnel is under the Palestinian village of Silwan, located on the slope of the Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif, one of the most religiously volatile places in the world.

The plan released by the White House this weekend to stimulate the Palestinian economy is amateurish, disingenuous, and dangerous.

Under normal circumstances, Americans for Peace Now (APN), which has been advocating for four decades for Israeli-Palestinian peace, would welcome a fifty-billion dollar plan prepared by the White House to stimulate the Palestinian economy. But nothing about the current circumstances makes Trump's so-called "Peace to Prosperity" plan worthy of serious consideration. Nothing about this plan makes it a source of hope for advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace. Rather, the plan undermines decades of US diplomatic efforts to broker peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) strongly rejects statements by US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman indicating support for Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank which he says Israel “has the right to retain.” APN calls on President Trump to oppose annexation. We renew our call for Trump to fire Friedman, and urge fellow American Jewish organizations to join this effort. 

Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomes congressional resolutions affirming the commitment of the United States to an Israeli-Palestinian two-state solution, and urges legislators to support them.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomes the ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas, while recognizing that it will provide only a lull between flareups. Security and stability for Israelis and Palestinians depend on a political settlement for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

APN strongly condemns the barrage of some 700 rockets launched by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad from the Gaza Strip at civilian communities in southern Israel. We stand with our Israeli brothers and sisters.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) mourns the passing of Franklin Fisher z"l, who was twice the chair of its Board of Directors (1985-1989; 2006-2009) and a leading advocate for Jewish and progressive causes in the United States and in Israel.

Go HERE for "American Jews, Don't Walk Away From Israel" by Debra Shushan, APN Director of Policy and Government Relations

In the coming months - and probably years - Americans will witness Israel sliding faster and deeper than ever before toward becoming an anti-democratic, intolerant, annexationist, jingoistic, fanatical, xenophobic state.

With the Trump administration’s almost unrestricted backing, Netanyahu’s new government will be much more predatory and defiant in its establishing facts on the ground that preclude a peace settlement with the Palestinians and undermine democracy. 

Alarmed by Prime Minister Netanyahu's repeated statements of intent to annex Israeli West Bank settlements if elected for another term, Americans for Peace Now calls on all stakeholders to unequivocally reject Netanyahu's pledge and underscore its disastrous repercussions.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) joins its Israeli sister organization Shalom Achshav (Peace Now) in asserting that by vowing to annex the settlements, Netanyahu is threatening Israel's future as a democracy and a Jewish state. West Bank annexation will severely threaten Israel's national security. It is also a detrimental to US national security interests.