Israeli society bid farewell this week to one of its giants, Mordechai (Morale) Bar-On, a person who helped build the state and was among the icons of its peace movement and its progressive camp. Morale was among the leaders of APN’s Israeli sister-organization, Shalom Achshav (Peace Now), and wrote a book that documented Israel’s peace movement. Bar-On passed away at 92.

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.

APN's daily news review from Israel - Monday March 8, 2021

Quote of the day:

“I think it is very much in Israel’s interest to end the occupation, and anyone who thinks this policy [of maintaining the settlements] can continue without a price is mistaken.” 
--Meretz leader, MK Nitzan Horowitz, responded to those who slammed him for saying “there were grounds for” the International Criminal Court investigation against Israel for war crimes.*

APN's daily news review from Israel - Sunday March 7, 2021

You Must Be Kidding: 
"Also in warfare, I will not accept (a soldier being) a captive unless he is, G-d forbid, a corpse..."
--A message an IDF commander sent to his soldiers.**

Breaking News:
Palestinians Claim Three Gaza Fisherman Killed by Israeli Fire; Army Denies
Nizar Ayash, chairman of the Gaza Fishermen's Association, said that the three fishermen were hit by a projectile near to Khan Younis. The Israeli military said in response that "the Israeli navy did not fire" at the Strip, and that it is investigating the reports. Earlier in the day, WAFA reported that Israeli forces opened fire and water cannons at fishermen while sailing at about three nautical miles from the shore, causing partial damage to at least one boat and forcing fishermen to return to the shore. (Haaretz+ and Maariv) 

1. Bills, Resolutions & Letters
2. Hearings & Markups
3. On the Record

Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

APN's daily news review from Israel - Thursday March 4, 2021

Quote of the day:

"What difference is there between that and measuring the length of a Jew’s nose or preserving the purity of the Aryan race?"
--Haaretz+ journalist Gideon Levy writes in an Op-Ed about ultra-Orthodox MK Yitzhak Pindrus' reaction to the High Court ruling that Conservative and Reform Jewish conversions be recognized by the state in which he said a woman not converted by the ultra-Orthodox is "a shiksa" and is not the "seed of Israel."* 

Americans for Peace Now is one of more than 30 progressive organizations who signed a letter to President Joe Biden urging his administration to make good, promptly, on his commitment to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Iran nuclear agreement.

APN's daily news review from Israel - Wednesday February 3, 2020
 

Quotes of the day*:

“There was a rain of bullets. I thought that was it. All my dreams, everything I have done - it’s all over.”
—Dr. Mohammed Aramush, who was injured by gunfire in the shootout between police and criminals on his street in the Arab-Israeli town of Tamra. Aramush was in his yard when he was hit. His friend, nursing student Ahmed Hijazi, was killed.

“While it’s necessary for the police to enter Arab communities and actively deal with crime, they cannot turn these communities into the Wild West.”
—Haaretz Editorial after police killed Ahmed Hijazi.

“Instead of firing targeted fire, the police fired in all directions. There is no reason to shoot in this way. I do not hear of such incidents in Tel Aviv or Netanya. There are no police officers with M-16 (assault rifles) in Bnei Brak or any other (Jewish cities)."
—Ja’afar Farah, Director of the Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab Palestinian Citizens of Israel.

“Our public indeed demands a fight against criminals and the eradication of crime, but not to kill the best of our sons.”
—Joint List MK Ahmad Tibi. 

APN's daily news review from Israel - Tuesday March 2, 2021

Quote of the day:

"We believe that using JNF (Jewish National Fund) money to buy private lands in the West Bank will not make Israel better. We worry that doing so will inflame antagonism in the territories. Also, we believe that it will further alienate many American Jews, especially young American Jews, from Israel and from Zionism itself, which too many see as inseparable from the dispossession of land from Palestinians."
--From a petition by 250 graduates of the Hadassah-supported youth group Young Judea, imploring the Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization to reconsider its abstention from voting against the JNF plan to allocate $11.6 million for future purchases of land in the West Bank.*

A month ago, the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled that it has jurisdiction over the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip -- territories under Israeli occupation since 1967. Today, as expected, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda confirmed her intention to open a criminal investigation into actions of Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that are suspected as war crimes. The actions that will be investigated include Israel’s policy of constructing settlements in the occupied West Bank.