Americans for Peace Now

News Nosh 4.1.20

by APN 04/01/20

APN's daily news review from Israel

Wednesday April 01, 2020

Quote of the day:
"A population that knows no science is not equipped to comprehend the threat of a virus. And a person who has never learned basic math cannot be expected to understand the graphs about flattening the curve."
--In a Haaretz+ Op-Ed, Jessica Apple blames the State of Israel for the high rate of the spread of coronavirus in the ultra-Orthodox community because it has allowed the community to forego basic education in the subjects that are crucial to understanding the threat of COVID-19.*

You Must Be Kidding:
The websites of Israel's Social Security and its National Employment Service have no Arabic form to apply for unemployment benefits.*

Front Page:

News Nosh 3.31.20

by APN 03/31/20

APN's daily news review from Israel

Tuesday March 31, 2020

Quote of the day:

“Benny, how did you get there?...What are you doing over there, Benny?”
--Yesh Atid MK Yoav Segalovich said to his former faction chairman, Knesset Speaker and Kahol-Lavan chairman Benny Gantz, at the first full plenum session that Gantz presided over, after being elected by the right-wing bloc.*

Breaking News:
IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi is now in quarantine after contact with someone infected with coronavirus, a day after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu entered quarantine for same reason.

Front Page:

News Nosh 3.30.20

by APN 03/30/20

APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday March 30, 2020

NOTE: APN would like to invite you to a briefing call on Tuesday, March 31st, at 12:00 noon (EST) with Haaretz columnist Bradley Burston.
To participate in the call, phone 951-797-1058 and enter code 147414. (A recording of the call will be posted after its completion.) To send questions in advance, please send an email Tuesday morning to Ori Nir at onir@peacenow.org.

You Must Be Kidding:
The IDF General Staff planned to deploy armed soldiers to accompany police as they patrolled ultra-Orthodox cities, where people have been bucking the health guidelines and endangering lives. But it decided against it because of the "potential for problems," for example, when a soldier shoots into the air to disperse civilians, reported Haaretz+. Yet, that potential never stopped the IDF from employing the method in the Palestinian Territories.**

“Why take the child support away from children because their mother – like the rest of the country – was put on unpaid leave?”
—Etti Manshur, 42, a single mom of three asks. She was dismissed from her job due to the corona virus effects. Under current Israeli law, single mothers who get child support payments from the National Insurance Institute suffer a double financial blow when they lose their jobs: they also get a reduction in their child support.*

Breaking News:
Netanyahu self-quarantines after aide tested positive for coronavirus (Haaretz+, Israel Hayom, Ynet)

Front Page:

APN Joins Peace Now's Call: No to Annexation as Israeli Government Policy

by APN 03/30/20

Americans for Peace Now (APN) joins its sister organization, Peace Now (Shalom Achshav) in urging Israeli politicians to reject West Bank annexation as a policy principle of the incoming government.

Reports in the Israeli media today indicate that Prime Minister Netanyahu is demanding that any party joining his coalition government endorse Annexing parts of the West Bank as a policy principle.

Peace Now and Partners to Gantz and Peretz: "Stop Annexation Plans in the Next Government"

by APN 03/30/20

Peace_Now_logo

Urgent Request to Party Leaders Gantz and Peretz to Stop Annexation Plans in the Next Government

Today, the heads of five Israeli organisations that support the two-state solution delivered an emergency letter to Israel Resilience Party chair, MK Benny Gantz, and Labor Party chair, Amir Peretz, urging them to veto any actions to be taken by the incoming government toward annexing swaths of the West Bank, which would have grave consequences for Israel's future.

Such sweeping unilateral moves, if undertaken by the so-called "unity government," would fly in the face of those who cast their vote for the Blue & White and Labor parties, believing that they would champion prudent policies with regard to the Palestinians. Annexation would not just violate international obligations, but also compromise Israel's future as a Jewish and democratic state, and critically endanger existing agreements and regional harmony with Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority.

As coalition negotiations continue, red lines need to be drawn to prevent the adoption of an extreme right-wing agenda.

Read the full letter addressed to MK Gantz
(An identical letter was sent to MK Amir Peretz)

Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher (March 30, 2020) - A Unity Government that Serves Beyond Corona Could Yet Try to Deliver the Trump Deal of the Century

by APN 03/30/20

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.

News Nosh 3.29.20

by APN 03/29/20

APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday March 29, 2020

You Must Be Kidding:
“For lack of choice."
--Reasoning for Israel National Security Council decision to provide asylum seekers from Sudan and Eritrea with the same treatment for the coronavirus as Israelis, even though they aren't citizens and don't have health insurance.**

Breaking News:
Following Gantz, Labor Chairman to Join Netanyahu-led Unity Government
Amir Peretz and another lawmaker set to meet with Kahol Lavan and decide on allocation of portfolios, as a third lawmaker opts out of government. (Haaretz+)

By Sunday night: Israel's coronavirus count climbs to 4,247, another spike in serious cases
On Sunday morning the number was 3,619 people. (Ynet)

Front Page:

PeaceCast: COVID-19 and Israeli-Palestinian Rapprochement - with Noa Shusterman of INSS

by APN 03/27/20

Could Israeli-Palestinian cooperation around Coronavirus be extended beyond the realm of public health? Could it bring about much needed rapprochement? Could it, at the very least, put Israeli annexation plans on hold?

Noa Shusterman, the Israel-Palestinian Research Program Coordinator at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) explores these questions.

Listen to the full episode

Legislative Round-up: March 27, 2020

by APN 03/27/20

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.

Bills, Resolutions, & Letters
Hearings
On the Record

News Nosh 3.26.20

by APN 03/26/20

APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday March 26, 2020

Quote of the Day:

"The State of Israel manages the corona crisis without an elected government, without a Police Commissioner, without a Director General of the Ministry of Justice, without a Prison Service commissioner, without a State Prosecutor, without an elected Prime Minister, without a Knesset Speaker, without a state budget, without a National Emergency Authority, without masks, without protective equipment, without (enough) respirators, without rule of law, without [corona test] swabs, without a national information system."
--Maariv's top political commentator, Ben Caspit, sums up the situation in Israel.*

Breaking News:
POLITICAL DRAMA: Kahol-Lavan leader Benny Gantz shocks and offers himself to be Knesset Speaker with right-wing support in order to form a unity government with Binyamin Netanyahu and prevent law from being passed that would prevent anyone with an indictment from forming a government - i.e. Netanyahu. Kahol-Lavan faction unravels as partners break-off. (See Elections 2020 / Netanyahu Indictment News below.**)

Front Page:

News Nosh 4.1.20

News Nosh 3.31.20

News Nosh 3.30.20

APN Joins Peace Now's Call: No to Annexation as Israeli Government Policy

Peace Now and Partners to Gantz and Peretz: "Stop Annexation Plans in the Next Government"

Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher (March 30, 2020) - A Unity Government that Serves Beyond Corona Could Yet Try to Deliver the Trump Deal of the Century

News Nosh 3.29.20

PeaceCast: COVID-19 and Israeli-Palestinian Rapprochement - with Noa Shusterman of INSS

Legislative Round-up: March 27, 2020

News Nosh 3.26.20

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