1. Bills, Resolutions & Letters
2. Hearings &
Markups
3. On the Record
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.
APN's daily news review from Israel - Thursday September 17, 2020
NOTE: News Nosh will be off for Rosh Hashana holiday and return Monday, September 21st.
You Must Be Kidding:
3.5 years
-The prison sentence of the Jewish-Israeli minor, who was convicted of involvement in the 2015 night-time torching
of a Palestinian family's home, killing the parents and their infant. The man was convicted of membership in a
terrorist organization (i.e. he is a terrorist) and involvement in a racially motivated crime. He has already been
in prison for the past 32 months, making him eligible for release in March.**
Quote of the day:
"Reality ought to have made every Israeli ashamed of their country – because of the occupation, but that’s
not all. The violence on the road and on the sidewalk, the aggression, the ignorance, the racism, the
ultra-nationalism, the boorishness, the collapsing health system, the army that’s heroic primarily against the weak
and built on moral rot, the lack of consideration for others in all realms of life, and now the disgraceful
handling of the coronavirus crisis. But wonder of wonders, Israelis are still convinced that they’re the
best."
--Gideon Levy in an Op-Ed ahead of the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashana.*
I'm happy to see Hadar Susskind leading Americans for Peace Now not only because of his experience,
management, skills and expertise but because he embodies the best of our movement's next generation.
Please read Hadar's letter, which follows. I was so moved by it, I increased my donation over last year's.
As we welcome a New Year and all the change we hope it brings, join me in contributing with your tax-deductible donation today.
Shana Tovah U'metukah,
Letty Cottin Pogrebin
APN Board Member and past Chair of the Board
President Trump's controversial US Ambassador to Israel has demonstrated
that APN was right to oppose his confirmation and subsequently call for his firing.
Based on his actions, statements, and our off-the-record conversations with informed insiders, it is clear that David Friedman is the chief architect behind the Trump administration's thinly concealed push to kill the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Friedman File is APN's comprehensive record documenting the deeds of the settlements enthusiast-cum-ambassador since he assumed his post.
APN's daily news review from Israel - Wednesday September 16, 2020
Quote of the day:
“Netanyahu continues the chain of generations, he continues the tradition of agreements, he gives up
on the messianic dreams and he extends his hand in peace. That, no one will take from him.”
—Maariv’s senior political commentator and one of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's biggest critics, Ben
Caspit, concedes that the signing of the normalization agreements with the UAE and Bahrain has given Netanyahu a
legacy.*
APN's daily news review from Israel - Tuesday September 15, 2020
Quotes of the Day:
"But if anyone thinks that relations with the Gulf countries will develop without diplomatic compensation
with the Palestinians in exchange for the normalization (agreements), let him look at our relationship with Jordan.
There are gas exports, there is cooperation in routine security arrangements, but other than that there’s really
nothing. This flower of a treaty with the Emirates can either bloom or wilt. It all depends on us."
--Former Israeli minister and retired Brigadier General, Efraim Sneh, writes in an Op-Ed today.**
"Those who fight corruption, on the one hand, and on the other hand abandon the (Israeli) Arabs and do not
protect them from Netanyahu's incitement, are stuck in a Gordian knot that cannot be untied. They will be rescued
from being stuck only if, like Alexander the Great, they draw their sword and sever the knot once and for all: by
declaring aloud that they are proud of the Arab population, by demanding a commission of inquiry into false
accusations against Yaakub Abu al-Qiyan (Israeli-Arab who was accused by law enforcement of being a terrorist, when
he wasn't), and by demanding to cancel the eviction of all the residents (of the unrecognized village of) Umm
al-Hiran."
--Odeh Bisharat writes in an Op-Ed today.
WASHINGTON (JTA)
— I’ve been asked why a pro-Israel Jewish peace organization like mine is not enthusiastically
celebrating the signing of a peace deal between Israel and two important Arab states.
We do welcome the agreement that Israel will sign here Tuesday with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. In and of itself, the trend of Israel’s normalizing relations with Arab states is a positive development.
But this is not happening in a vacuum. It’s happening at a time that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under multiple indictments for corruption and bribery, at a time when tens of thousands are gathering in protest around the nation and calling for his removal. And most important, it’s happening at a time when his government continues to entrench the occupation and undermine even the hope of a two-state solution.
Normalization with the UAE and Bahrain is great for the venture capitalists who will benefit from it, but does nothing to remedy Israel’s existential problem: its conflict with the Palestinians and the occupation that does so much damage.
I’m sure that Tuesday’s White House ceremony will provide a beautiful photo op, but I’m not eager to take part in festivities that are intended to paper over the real threat to Israel’s national security by celebrating a “peace deal” with countries that Israel was not at war with, as Israel fails to contain even the immediate threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
APN's daily news review from Israel - Monday September 14, 2020
Quote of the day:
"Go in peace. Don't come back."
-- Hundreds of anti-government Israelis who showed up at Ben-Gurion Airport to 'send off' Israeli Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu on his trip to Washington to sign normalization agreements with the UAE and Bahrain in the midst
of the corona crisis.*
You Must Be Kidding:
"Sport is global language endowed with tolerance and peace between countries and peoples. Beitar's fans
will soon understand that the people of the Emirates want peace and coexistence."
--Moshe Hogeg, the owner of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team, which has a fan club that hates Arabs, said
about possibility that the fans will accept the purchase of the team by an Emirati businessman. **
APN's daily news review from Israel - Sunday September 13, 2020
You Must Be Kidding:
The Israeli government appointed settlers to examine whether Palestinians are constructing with Israeli
authorization or not.**