On Monday, April 20 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement with Blue and White party chairman Benny Gantz to form a unity government. Official talks on forming this government began just under a month before this agreement was signed, with the supposed intention that this was an emergency government to deal with COVID-19.

This then begs the question of how central COVID-19 has actually been in forming the deal and how important it would be as an agenda item for the proposed government.

Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

We will soon celebrate Israel's 72nd Independence Day, and along with this all of Israel's great achievements. My colleagues and I, both Americans for Peace Now and Shalom Achshav (Israel’s peace movement), are determined to add one more: A negotiated settlement that ends the occupation and provides security and democracy for Israel and statehood for the Palestinians.

(Photo: Me with Leonard Fein (z"l), a founder of APN and a mentor, during an APN Israel study tour.)

This is what being pro-Israel means to us. We realize we are in difficult times, and this is a hard issue, but I was motivated to write these Yom Ha’atzmaut words below to honor my friends at Shalom Achshav. It has also been published in the Jewish Journal and Washington Jewish Week.

I have never worked with better, more dedicated people than them. Please honor these patriots, perhaps with a $72 donation or whatever you are willing to give.

Thank you.

Mark Bilsky
Americans for Peace Now

Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) 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.

1. Bills, Resolutions, and Letters
2. Hearings
3. On the Record

APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday April 23, 2020

Number of the day: 75

• Percentage of Palestinian citizens of Israel who identify themselves as Israeli, according to a poll by the Jewish People Policy Institute's Pluralism Index.*

Americans for Peace Now (APN) strongly supports Dianne Lob’s nomination to become the next Chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

APN's daily news review from Israel
Wednesday April 22, 2020

Number of the day: 31

• The percentage of Israelis who believe that Binyamin Netanyahu will vacate his chair for Benny Gantz, as the coalition agreement requires.*

APN's daily news review from Israel - Tuesday April 21, 2020

Quote of the day:

"Where the weakening of democracy and the justice system are concerned, the elimination of an alternative to (Netanyahu’s) rule, the future of the occupied Territories and the power of the High Court, Netanyahu's deserves a grade of 9 out of 10 (for fulfilling his election promises). What does Gantz deserve? Students who had a particularly hard time would once have received the following grade on their end-of-year report cards: 'Graduates to second grade but not at our school.'"
--Yedioth political analyst Nahum Barnea gives grades to the leaders of Likud and Kahol-Lavan for their unity government agreement on the basis of the fulfillment of their election promises.*

Experts have been warning for the past couple of weeks about the health situation in East Jerusalem. Healthcare in the area is the responsibility of the Israeli government. The Palestinian Authority (PA) is not allowed to operate in any capacity in East Jerusalem. It is currently estimated that 83 people in East Jerusalem have tested positive for COVID-19. This figure is likely to be very inaccurate as it is both an estimate and a metric that is only as good as the testing that facilitates it. Testing in East Jerusalem has been very sparse and for Palestinians in East Jerusalem neighborhood that are on the eastern side of the separation barrier, but even in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods on the "Israeli" side of the wall, there was no access to testing until this week.