Published May 4

The most serious setback to peace in the Middle East has taken place under the cloud of the coronavirus and the internal Israeli political scene. A chance, however, still exists for a unified Arab coalition with action by American Jews to create a firewall that will help preserve a chance for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

As part of the deal for the emergency government between the Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival and former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, an Israeli government-in-the-making is on the record as supporting unilateral annexation of large swaths of the West Bank.

Israel appears to be set on a dangerous anti-peace act that will destroy the very fragile and quickly lapsing chance for a Palestinian-Israeli two-state peace deal.

APN's daily news review from Israel - Wednesday May 6, 2020

You Must Be Kidding: 

In the Israeli Health Ministry's first ad campaign in Arabic for country's Arab population,  the illustrations looked as if they were directed at the citizens of Saudi Arabia, sparking an emotional uproar among the Arab community. The ads were removed immediately.*

Arkady Mazin is an expert on the Russian-speaking public in Israel. He is currently working on a book that among other topics examines attitudes among Israeli Russian speaking Jews toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In this episode, Mazin talks about what he depicts as an anomaly or a paradox. The two predictors for holding dovish views on this issue in Israeli society are secularism and high level of education. Israeli Jews from the former Soviet Union are much more secular than the overall population, and, on the average much better educated. Yet their views on Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians are more hawkish than those of the average Israeli.

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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.

APN's daily news review from Israel - Monday May 4, 2020

Quote of the day:

“There is no justice (for Palestinians) in the (Israeli) courts. Anyone who tells you otherwise there is a liar. I can be arrested for months for a traffic violation, but they (who murdered my wife) have all been released, even though their trial is not over. Nothing has happened for months.”
--Yacoub Rabi, whose wife Aisha, 49, was murdered by settler youth who threw rocks at her car, speaks in an interview about his life since the murder.*

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.

APN's daily news review from Israel - Sunday May 3, 2020

 Quote of the day:

"We're at the dawn of a new era.”
--Daoud Siyam, a social activist from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, hopes that the positive treatment by Jerusalem's right-wing mayor, Moshe Leon, to help Palestinian Jerusalemites facing the corona crisis will not end with a vaccine.*

You Must Be Kidding: 
Justice Ido Droyan-Gamliel of the Lod district court has ruled to allow a young settler suspected of killing a Palestinian woman after throwing a five pound rock at her car, killing her, to return to his home, despite objections by the Shin Bet security service and state prosecutors. His DNA was found on the rock.**

1. Bills, Resolutions, & Letters
2. Hearings
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.