News from Peace Now:

Following statements by aides to President-elect Donald Trump regarding his wish to move America’s Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Americans for Peace Now (APN) is urging Trump and members of his transition team to avoid controversial, inflammatory statements on this sensitive foreign policy question.

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.

This week, Alpher discusses what the ramifications are for Israel and the region of Aleppo's falling to the Assad regime and its allies, Russia, Iran and Hezbollah; if that means the end of the war; what will happen to Assad’s Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah allies as his regime regains control; how this is affecting Lebanon; what sort of Turkey is emerging from recent years’ revolution in neighboring Syria and recent months’ abortive revolution in Turkey itself; what sort of regime we can now expect to develop in Syria; where all this leaves Israel; how it contributes to Israeli-Sunni Arab relations; and how Syria affects the Palestinian situation.

NOTE: For full details of APN's policy - which advocates boycotts of settlement products and supports other activism targeting the occupation - see our dedicated policy webpage, here.

It took me a couple of seconds to realize that this was neither a joke, nor the latest satirical "Borowitz Report.” The invitation to the Hanukkah celebration of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations joyfully noted that the party will be co-sponsored by the Republic of Azerbaijan, will be celebrating religious freedom and diversity, and will be held at the Trump International Hotel. REALLY???

When I realized that it was neither a joke nor a hoax, I wrote a letter, together with my friends Jim Klutznick and Marty Bresler, the current Chair and the immediate past Chair of APN'S Board of Directors, explaining to the leaders of the Presidents’ Conference why they should count us out unless they change their choice of partner and venue. And, after sending the letter to the Conference’s Stephen Greenberg and Malcolm Hoenlein, we made it public.

Times of Israel: December 5, 2016
“Attorney General Says Outpost Bill Still Illegal, Even Without Amona”  Peace Now warns that regardless of whether or not settlements in the West Bank were built in “good faith,” the Regulation Bill still legalizes outposts and Israeli settlement expansions on privately-owned Palestinian land.

Arutz Sheva: December 5, 2016
“Regulation Law Passes Preliminary Reading” Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked sardonically thanks Peace Now and other left-wing organizations for unwittingly enabling the Regulation Law to pass during its preliminary reading.

Ynet New: December 7, 2016
“Regulation Bill Passes First Knesset Reading” Restating Shaked’s remarks, HaBayit HaYehudi party leader and Education Minister, Naftali Bennett, gives thanks to Peace Now for helping the Regulation Law pass as a bill.

Times of Israel: December 7, 2016
“Four Liberal Jewish Groups Join Call on Trump to Nix National Security Adviser Choice” Americans for Peace Now, J Street, T’ruah, and the National Council for Jewish Women urge President-elect Trump to revoke his appointment of Mike Flynn as the next National Security Advisor.

Haaretz: December 7, 2016
“Four Jewish Groups Join 53 Organizations Calling on Trump to Rescind Michael Flynn's Nomination” Americans for Peace Now signed a letter condemning Trump’s appoint of Gen. Michael Flynn to National Security Advisor, arguing that his explicit malice towards Muslims and Islam and his retweeting of an anti-semitic tweet renders him unfit to represent the country.

The Jewish Week: December 7, 2016
“Battle Over Ellison Heats Up As Some Dems Warn Party” Americans for Peace Now and other American Jewish organizations reaffirm support for Keith Ellison amidst a series of attacks on his Israel platform, citing him as a progressive ally towards brokering a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians.

Jewish Telegraphic Agency: December 7, 2016
“8 Liberal Jewish Groups to Skip Conference of Presidents Party at Trump’s DC Hotel” Americans for Peace Now, in partnership with 7 other liberal Jewish members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, will not attend its Hanukkah Party at the Trump International Hotel on December 14, maintaining that the venue location misrepresents the interests of most American Jews.

The Yeshiva World News: December 7, 2016
“Yair Lapid To Peace Now: Where Is A Minimum Of Respect For The Dead?” Yesh Atid party leader, Yair Lapid, calls upon Peace Now to support an extension for the destruction of a memorial for two fallen IDF soldiers that was built on private Palestinian-owned land in the West Bank.

Al-Monitor: December 8, 2016
“Israel's Controversial Settlement Bill Provokes Palestinian Blitz” Peace Now expresses concern over Israel’s Regulation Law that would retroactively legalize at least 55 outposts and 72 settlements in the West Bank, enabling the government to expropriate nearly 8,000 dunams of Palestinian land.

The Forward: December 9, 2016
“Like Houdini, Netanyahu Is a Great Escape Artist — Just Look at His Contortions On Settlements” Recalling Peace Now and other organizations’ lawsuit brought against Amona’s construction in 1995, the Regulation Bill’s support for outposts and settlements on Palestinian property may trigger actions from the Obama Administration and the UN Security Council.