Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived
Shameless plug: Check out the 1/24 edition of Mehdi Hassan’s podcast, “Deconstructed,” featuring Marc Lamont Hill and me (Lara Friedman), on the topic, “What You Can’t Say About Israel”
1) Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA): Time is running out for a fix prior to the Friday, February 1 implementation date. ATCA will end US support for Israeli-Palestinian security coordination, eliminate the last official channel between the US government and the Palestinian Authority, and prevent the future resumption of US development assistance to Palestinians. Read the op-ed in The Hill by Debra Shushan on why Congress must act and what it can do.
2) Senate Bill 1, including the Combating BDS Act (CBA), was advanced following two votes this week. Yesterday's vote, which paves the way for introduction of amendments, was 76-22. (Find out how your senators voted here.)
Some senators spoke passionately of their opposition to CBA, both on First Amendment grounds and because of its conflation of settlements with sovereign Israel. In particular, these remarks by Sen. Chris Van Hollen are worth your view.
Full article published in The Hill on January 28,
2019
In a perversely ironic turn, a law intended to aid American victims of international terrorist attacks will strike a serious blow to counterterrorism cooperation that keeps Israelis (and Americans visiting Israel) safe.
The Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA) will take effect on February 1. Unless it is adequately amended or repealed before then, the law will damage Israeli national security and U.S. foreign policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Time is short, and Congress must take action.
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.
