The government of Israel seems to be on the verge of legalizing scores of illegal settlement-outposts in the West Bank and making it dramatically easier for Israeli settlers to construct more such outposts on privately-owned Palestinian land.

APN is alarmed by these dangerous developments. We call on the Trump administration, as well as friends of Israel in the United States and worldwide, to tell Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that more West Bank settlements are not the answer to terrorism and that they further jeopardize Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Update: this action, now closed, ran in December 2018. 

Two pieces of controversial legislation may be inserted into a must-pass omnibus spending bill, virtually guaranteeing that they would become law without debate. Please contact your members of Congress to let them know that you oppose the Israel Anti-Boycott Act and the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act.

The Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S.720 and H.R.1697), under the guise of preventing companies from joining boycotts of Israel promoted by international non-governmental organizations, intentionally blurs the distinction between Israel and the occupation. Under this bill, measures targeting West Bank settlements and the occupation would be regarded as targeting Israel. APN opposes the occupation and supports boycotting West Bank settlements. While opposing boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Israel (BDS), APN believes that boycotts are a legitimate nonviolent expression of protest, which should not be criminalized.

The Anti-Semitism Awareness Act (S.2940 and H.R.5924) would require the Department of Education to utilize a definition of anti-Semitism employed by the Department of State in assessing whether a school has violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by tolerating anti-Semitic harassment. That definition labels as anti-Semitism certain types of criticism of Israel and the occupation. The definition’s author opposes the ASAA, arguing that his definition was never intended for use on campuses as a means of censoring constitutionally protected free speech. Should it pass, the ASAA likely will have a chilling effect on speech related to Israel on college campuses.

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.

Known by many as Mr. Jerusalem, one of the world’s leading experts on Jewish-Arab relations in Jerusalem, Danny Seidemann is the founder and director of Terrestrial Jerusalem, an Israeli non-governmental organization that works to identify and track the full spectrum of developments in Jerusalem that could impact either the political process or permanent status options, destabilize the city or spark violence, or create humanitarian crises.

We spoke about the recent elections for Jerusalem’s municipal council and what should be expected of the new mayor, Moshe Lion. We spoke about the settlement in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah. We spoke about the leaping West Bank annexation policies of the Israeli government and the role that Jerusalem plays in these policies. We spoke about the Trump administration’s policy on Jerusalem. The conversation with Danny was fun. He was as witty, smart and analytical as always. 

Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived 

1. Bills, Resolutions & Letters
2. Middle East Elements in the Omnibus?
3. Hearings
4. On the Record

Americans for Peace Now (APN) joins its Israeli sister-organization Shalom Achshav (Peace Now) in condemning this week's Palestinian terrorist attacks in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and in urging both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to prevent further escalation.

APN sends its condolences to the families of the victims of this week's attacks and wishes a full recovery to those injured.