The European Union issued the following statement on August 6th, 2019

Statement by EU Spokesperson on latest settlements approved by Israeli authorities

Bruxelles, 06/08/2019

Israeli authorities have approved the advancement of well over 2.000 housing units in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. The European Union's position on Israeli settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territory is clear and remains unchanged: all settlement activity is illegal under international law and it erodes the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace.

In the face of the Trump administration's apparent abandonment of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Americans for Peace Now (APN) urges Congress and presidential candidates to commit to supporting two states, and to reject Trump's departure from this long-held principal US policy objective.

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.