News from Peace Now's (Israel) Settlement Watch:

Earlier today (March 7, 2016) the State updated the High Court of Justice on its position regarding Peace Now's petition for the evacuation of 17 structures in the outpost of Derech Ha'Avot. Due to the "request of the political echelon" and despite its previous commitments, the State announced that it seeks to work on the retroactive legalization of 10 of the structures built on private Palestinian land in the illegal outpost. The State hopes to do so by applying a "First Registration" procedure, a long complex procedure asking applicants to prove legal ownership of a land. This comes only two years after this land had been surveyed and was not declared state land, as it had clear owners. If the court accepts the State's position, in the best case scenario the evacuation of the illegal structures as well as the return of the land to its Palestinian owners will be postponed by several years, and in the worst case scenario, the State will find a way to retroactively legalize the structures. As for the remaining 7 structures, the state argued that it will evacuate them within two years.

Peace Now: The government's shameless legal acrobatics efforts meant to take over  lands in area C is putting the two state solution in danger. We hope that the High Court will deny the State's attempt to act against its previous commitments and demand the evacuation of the illegal construction in the outpost of Derech Ha'Avot.

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 why Netanyahu is risking his coalition with the ultra-Orthodox by granting prayer rights at the Western Wall to the US-based Reform and Conservative movements and how this is connected to his quest to shore up American public support for Israel; what Israelis think of Donald Trump; and what does it mean for Israel that Saudi Arabia is punishing Lebanon because of Hezbollah’s ties to Iran and support for the Assad regime in Syria;

APN's Rabbi Alana Suskin op-ed: Don't Give up on Israel! (Jerusalem Post, 3/2/2016)

On March 2^nd 2016, APN hosted Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer, a leading expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and on efforts to resolve it for a briefing call on the state of the two-state solution.

Transcript Below

On March 10, 2016, Human Rights Watch, the Foundation for Middle East Peace, and Americans for Peace Now hosted a panel discussion of Human Rights Watch’s new report, Occupation, Inc.: How Settlement Businesses Contribute to Israel’s Violations of Palestinian Rights. 

Discussing the report was Sarah Saadoun, the report’s author, and APN’s Lara Friedman. Sarah Saadoun is the Leonard H. Sandler Fellow at Human Rights Watch. Lara Friedman is APN’s Director of Policy and Government Relations.. The discussion will be moderated by Matthew Duss, President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. 

What: Occupation, Inc., a discussion of Human Rights Watch’s reports on how business in and with Israel’s settlements contributes to violations of Palestinian rights. 

Watch the video of the event below: