APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday November 2, 2014
 

Quote of the day:

“Is the Jewish character of Israel dependent on the signature of a Palestinian leader? Of course not. The Jewish character of the state depends on us.”
--Speaking at the Rabin memorial, Shimon Peres criticized the demand by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state for there to be peace.**

Several thousand people turned out for the 19th annual Rabin memorial rally Saturday night, including President Reuven Rivlin and Rabin’s son, Yuval Rabin. Former president Shimon Peres gave a fiery speech, noting, "“I say clearly today: Those who have given up on peace are the delusional ones. Those who gave up and stopped looking for peace. they’re the naive ones, the ones who are not patriots....The State of Israel would be giving up on its future if it pursues the status quo and remains without peace."

Boston Globe - October 29, 2014
APN's Ori Nir op-ed: Yaalon's US visit underscores crisis in US-Israel relations
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/10/29/israel-breaking-over-two-state-solution/tJWtaQJPXP0XXn90s4SrUO/story.html

 LA Jewish Journal - October 24, 2014
Former APN Board Chairs, Gerald Bubis, Dick Gunther and Luis Lainer write letter to the editor in response to Rosner article on Peace Now upsetting the Netanyahu/Obama relationship
http://www.jewishjournal.com/letters_to_the_editor/article/letters_to_the_editor_yom_kippur_eid_peace_now_and_jews_against_evil

 Arutz 7 - October 27, 2014
Peace Now's Yariv Oppenheimer says that settlers are the real ones controlling Israel's government
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/307334#.VFO6XvnF-oN

On October 31, 2014, Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann and APN Policy and Government Relations Director Lara Friedman briefed us, from Jerusalem,  on the tense situation in the city. 

Please join us for a briefing call with Jerusalem expert Danny Seidemann, executive director of Terrestrial Jerusalem, and Lara Friedman, Americans for Peace Now's director of policy and government relations. Lara is currently in Jerusalem, and will join Danny for an update on the heightened tensions there. The call will take place tomorrow, Friday, October 31, at 11:00 AM Eastern Time.

Americans for Peace Now joins its Israeli sister organization, Peace Now, in strongly condemning the assassination-attempt of Rabbi Yehuda Glick, an extreme right-wing activist who advocates for Jewish prayer in Jerusalem's Temple Mount, and for re-building the Jewish Temple at the site of al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site to Islam. 

 This piece will be featured in the Nov. 3 print edition of The Boston Globe.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has come to epitomize the Israeli school of thought that dismisses peace with the Palestinians as being not only impossible but undesirable.

Ya’alon laid out his worldview last week during a four-day visit to the United States. He has become the most salient spokesperson for those in Israel who think that the only way for Israel to conduct its relations with its neighbors is through periodic wars and counterterrorism campaigns, referred to in Israeli security jargon as “mowing the lawn.” In short, he believes in conflict management rather than conflict resolution.