Hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress on Iran tomorrow, Americans for Peace Now is calling today on Netanyahu to refrain from using his speech to undermine diplomacy with Iran, further deepening the partisan rift on Capitol Hill, and causing further divisions among American Jews.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) calls on Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner (R-Ohio) to re-issue his invitation for the prime minister of Israel to address Congress for a later date, after the deadline for negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, and following the elections in Israel, after a new government coalition is formed.

APN’s President and CEO Debra DeLee said: “Both the timing of the invitation and its manner are outrageous. They are inappropriate and irresponsible. Not only were the invitations issued in a way that violates protocol, their timing suggests congressional meddling in a foreign county’s election campaign – two weeks only before Israel’s general elections, in which Benjamin Netanyahu is a candidate. Furthermore, the timing strongly suggests an attempt to use a foreign leader to influence the debate between Congress and the White House over America’s Iran policy. To top it all, this move uses Israel, yet again, as a wedge issue in internal American politics. Speaker Boehner’s invitation – both its timing and manner – is therefore a disservice to US national security interests and to Israel’s.  

Americans for Peace Now (APN) is horrified and outraged by today's stabbing attack in Tel Aviv, which left 13 innocent civilians injured, some of them severely.

APN strongly condemns this terrorist attack by a young Palestinian from the West Bank, and stands with the people of Israel as they confront violence and terror. 

APN today called on the Obama Administration not to block the Jordanian-backed resolution in the United Nations Security Council regarding Israeli-Palestinian peace.  APN president and CEO Debra DeLee commented:

"We urge the Obama Administration, as a true friend of Israel, not to block the Jordanian-introduced resolution in the United Nations Security Council setting out parameters and a timeline for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.  Notwithstanding the misleading reports and cynical criticisms of this UN effort, the bottom line is this:  the substance of this resolution is firmly in line with longstanding U.S. policy regarding a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and passage of this resolution is consistent with the national interests of both the U.S. and Israel.  For these reasons, the Obama Administration, if it is not prepared to support the resolution, should not intervene to block its passage.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) today reiterated its call on the Obama administration to support French-led efforts to gain consensus around a United Nations Security Council laying out terms of reference and a timeline for Israeli-Palestinian, two-state negotiations. APN urged the Obama administration to reject efforts to delay such a resolution until after Israeli elections (March 2015).  APN President and CEO Debra DeLee commented: 

"As a true friend of Israel, the Obama administration should be working closely with the French and other parties to achieve consensus around a new Israeli-Palestinian peace resolution in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), and to help pass such a resolution expeditiously.  Passage of a two-state resolution by the UNSC offers an historic opportunity for friends of Israel in the international community, including the Obama administration, to breathe new life into the two-state solution.  It can go a long way to strengthening those Israelis and Palestinians – among both the general population and among the current and potential leaders – who stand firmly with such a solution.  It can also send a much-needed message to rejectionists on both sides, making clear that the world is out of patience with ideologies and actions that prioritize land over peace, and prefer perpetual war in pursuit of zero-sum outcomes to a negotiated compromise.

Ahead of the 2015 elections, American Jews should influence Israel's future character – not through their pocketbooks, but by asserting their vision of how a Jewish, democratic state should look.

For American Jews who care about Israel’s future as a democracy, as a Jewish nation-state that champions Jewish values, as a Jewish homeland they can be proud of, Israel’s early elections are a call for action.

The next 96 days leading up to the March 17 elections offer American Jews a rare opportunity to influence Israel's future character – not through their pocketbooks, but by asserting their vision of what a Jewish, democratic state should look like.

Violence, incitement and racist hatred don’t just increasingly plague Israel. Palestinian society is just as sick – and unlike Israel, lacks a leader voicing genuine self-criticism.

The despicable violence, incitement, racism and hatred that are plaguing Israelis and Palestinians these days demonstrate just how sick both societies are - yes, both – and how desperately they need to separate from each other into two independent states.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) is horrified and outraged by today's savage terrorist attack on Jewish worshippers at a Jerusalem synagogue, which left four innocent civilians dead and others injured. APN strongly condemns this attack. We stand with the people of Israel. Our hearts are with the families that have been broken by today's attack. We wish full and rapid recovery to those who were injured.

Jerusalem is bleeding. At this time, Israeli and Palestinian leaders bear a heavy responsibility. They must put an end to inflammatory actions and rhetoric that would further intensify the bloodshed. They must fight terrorism and incitement. At the same time, they must also seek ways to engage diplomatically to reach a political settlement for the conflict – the only way to avoid perpetual bloodletting between Israelis and Palestinians.

On October 31, 2014, Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann and APN Policy and Government Relations Director Lara Friedman briefed us, from Jerusalem,  on the tense situation in the city. 

Americans for Peace Now joins its Israeli sister organization, Peace Now, in strongly condemning the assassination-attempt of Rabbi Yehuda Glick, an extreme right-wing activist who advocates for Jewish prayer in Jerusalem's Temple Mount, and for re-building the Jewish Temple at the site of al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site to Islam.