Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is grabbing positive headlines these days: first with reports that he wants to go back to negotiations with the Palestinians, and second with reports that he has expressed support for the Arab Peace Initiative (API). Or more accurately, he told EU Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini that he wants negotiations with the Palestinians over settlement blocs, and he told the press that he likes the "general idea" of better relations between Israel in the Arab world. Or, in essence, twice recently Netanyahu called the world stupid.

How stupid? Netanyahu's tactics are so shameless that they bring to mind a bit performed by Richard Pryor in his 1982 performance, "Live on the Sunset Strip." Pryor recounts how his wife caught him with another woman. He tells her: "I don't care what you think you saw... Are you gonna believe me or your lying eyes?"

On the 48th anniversary of the Six Day War, please join APN for a briefing call with journalist and historian Tom Segev, the author of 1967 – Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East. Segev will talk about his research concerning the war and its aftermath, and will discuss its lingering impact on Israel, almost half a century later.

Tom Segev is an Israeli journalist and historian, the award-winning author of seven books, and a longtime columnist with Israel’s leading newspaper, Haaretz. His comprehensive study of the circumstances that preceded the 1967 war and the reality that it had created was praised by reviewers and scholars worldwide.

Rabbi Suskin spoke about the prospects for peace following the installation of Israel's new government, the work of Peace Now in Israel and what the challenges are at this time, and what, as American Jews, our role can be in helping Israel achieve peace and security with her neighbors.

Overcoming the Obstacles to a Two-State Solution

Ori Nir will be speaking at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at American University, on Thursday, June 4, 10am

Although the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is today a matter of consensus worldwide, it seems increasingly difficult to attain. What are the main obstacles for achieving it, and how can they be overcome?

Americans for Peace Now today called on the Obama Administration to reject Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's cynical call for negotiations over settlement blocs and to instead prepare itself to lead or co-lead a resolution in the United Nations Security Council laying out clear parameters for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, consistent with longstanding U.S. policy. APN President and CEO Debra DeLee issued the following statement:

New Jersey Jewish News - May 20, 2015
APN's Ori Nir op-ed: Progressive American Jews: Fight for the Israel you believe in
http://njjewishnews.com/article/27277/progressive-american-jews-fight-for-the-israel-you-believe-in#.VVz01k9Vikp

SFgate.com - May 15, 2015
APN's Lara Friedman criticizes legislation that fails to distinguish between Israel and WB settlements
http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2015/05/15/trade-measures-could-shift-u-s-policy-on-israeli-settlements/

i24.com (AFP story) - May 14, 2015
Peace Now: Israeli government issues tenders for 85 new homes in WB settlement
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/71177-150514-israel-re-invites-bids-for-85-w-bank-settler-homes-ngo

Ynet (AFP story) - May 15, 2015
Peace Now: Israeli government issues tenders for more homes in WB settlement
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4657673,00.html

Ynet.com (AFP story) - May 20, 2015
Peace Now welcomes Israeli government decision to suspend segregated public transportation pilot in West Bank
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4659396,00.html

AFP - May 21, 2015
Peace Now: Settlements are leading Israel into an apartheid regime and to moral bankruptcy
http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-suspends-w-bank-palestinian-bus-ban-085303579.html

This week, Alpher discusses what was the new Netanyahu government thinking, trying to introduce segregated buses in the West Bank; President Obama’s critical remarks to journalist Jeffrey Goldberg and at a DC synagogue regarding Netanyahu’s attitude toward Israeli Arabs and his signaling that there would be no peace process initiative in the near future, as well as the US taking Israel’s side at a UN nuclear treaty review conference; whether we should categorize the Pope’s Middle East diplomacy as a form of Europe-based pressures; and US and UK proposals to deploy western ground forces to augment weak and fragmented Iraqi forces against IS - are there alternatives?