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 happened last week, with Israel beginning last week with a Likud-Labor unity government, blessed by the president of Egypt, and ended with an even more right-wing government and the departure of a defense minister who stood up for IDF commanders with liberal values; the fallout; and where this leaves civil-military relations in Israel.

APN hosted a briefing call on Wednesday, May 25th, at 2:00 pm Eastern Time with Akiva Eldar, senior political columnist with Al-Monitor’s Israel Pulse and formerly with Haaretz.

Akiva discussed the recent developments in the Israeli political arena: Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition negotiations with Avigdor Lieberman and before that with Labor’s Yitzhak Herzog; Moshe Yaalon’s resignation from the government and the Knesset, and the increasing tension in Israel between the government and the security establishment.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) today sounded the alarm over the imminent appointment of Israeli serial provocateur and extremist firebrand Avigdor Lieberman as Israel’s new Minister of Defense. APN's President and CEO Debra DeLee commented: 

“Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is today once again showing the world that he puts politics and personal political survival above the national security of Israel and its people.

“Avigdor Lieberman has a long and ugly track record of irresponsible, reckless, and deliberately inflammatory rhetoric and actions. As foreign minister in Netanyahu’s previous government, he caused severe damage to Israel’s foreign interests, creating crises in Israel’s relations with regional and global allies.

Recently, APN Director of Policy and Government Relations Lara Friedman was invited to speak at two events for the American University in Cairo (AUC), organized under the auspices of AUC’s Prince Alwaleed Center for American Studies and Research, part of the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. The first lecture, entitled “The Middle East and the 2016 U.S. Elections,” took place on March 13, 2016 at AUC's historic Oriental Hall on the Tahrir Square campus. The second lecture, titled “A Conversation with A Washington Insider: Americans for Peace Now's Lara Friedman,” took place March 14, 2016 at AUC's campus in New Cairo.

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