In response to a series of actions taken by the Netanyahu-Gantz government in recent weeks, including home demolitions, forced evictions and new settlement approvals in Givat Hamatos and E-1 meant to secure “facts on the ground” and prevent the successful pursuit of a two-state future for Israelis and Palestinians, the Progressive Israel Network, in which APN is a member, issued the following statement:

We are alarmed by the recent set of moves by the government of Israel to initiate settlement projects and take other provocative and harmful actions in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, including home demolitions and forced evictions, which further damage the possibility of a negotiated future two-state solution. It is clear that the Netanyahu government is trying to exploit the outgoing Trump Administration’s wholehearted embrace of Israel’s settlement enterprise in order to further erase the distinction between Israel and the territory it occupies. The recent announcement of the Israeli government’s approval of tenders for new construction in the planned settlement of Givat Hamatos and statutory approval for the construction of E-1 are particularly harmful. These settlement projects have the strategic objective of cutting off Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, seriously undermining the prospects of establishing a contiguous Palestinian state alongside Israel. 

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.

We are at an inflection point in the U.S.-Israel relationship.

With our elections over and Israel’s once again looming in the near future, there is an opportunity for a shift. Not just because elections always offer a chance for change, but because we have an incoming U.S. President who understands the nuances and challenges of the relationship we have with Israel. Moreover, he sees the American role not as an advocate for the settler’s movement and a Greater Israel, but as an honest broker helping Israelis and Palestinians walk the path toward peace.

On and off for nearly 25 years, we have been faced with an Israeli leader who has shown himself to be neither a friend to democracy nor a partner for peace. We have struggled to keep our hope alive, to believe that there is a road to negotiations and a better future despite the fact that Israel has maintained its 50+ year occupation, vastly expanded settlements, passed laws to codify discrimination against non-Jewish citizens, and done its best to marginalize and even criminalize the peace movement.

Americans for Peace Now – comprised of tens of thousands of Americans who, like you and me, believe in a peaceful future, has been envisioning that better future for nearly 40 years. Forty years of standing up for the very essence of what makes a successful democracy and a thriving society. Forty years of struggling through botched negotiations, hopes rising and dashed, over and over again. Forty years of dreaming of a life of dignity and peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.

We may be the dreamers, but, as John Lennon once reminded us, we’re not the only ones. Our friends and family in Israel and Palestine dream of peace, as well. And, while it has been a long 40 years, we cannot step away. Peace may be another decade down the road. Or, it may be around the corner. It is up to us to keep the flame burning, should the moment arrive.

APN's daily news review from Israel - Monday December 7, 2020

Quote of the day:

"We wanted to see the reactions of the (Jewish) citizens. Everyone came to be photographed with us."
--Hamada Odeh, an Arab-Israel from the town of Kafr Qassem, who pranked Jewish Israelis in Tel-Aviv with his friends by dressing up like Gulf Arabs to see how they would react.*

APN's daily news review from Israel - Sunday December 6, 2020

Quote of the day:

“We cannot accept the imprecise, overreaching wording of the definition’s examples. We can’t accept it because we are witnessing how it is already being abused, indeed weaponized, to quash legitimate criticism and activism directed at Israeli government policies by tarnishing individuals and organizations as antisemitic.”
--Leaders of Americans for Peace Now explain to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations why APN can't sign on to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.*

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.

U.S. Jewish nonprofit says the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition is ‘already being abused to quash legitimate criticism and activism directed at Israeli government policies’

The following is the text of a letter that APN sent to the leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in response to a request to sign on to the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism (with the accompanying examples).

25 November, 2020

Dear Arthur, William, and Malcolm,

We are writing to inform you that Americans for Peace Now will not adopt the full version of the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism (with the accompanying examples) and to explain why.

First, it is important for us to clarify that we are alarmed by the recent rise in antisemitic acts and antisemitic speech. Of particular concern is the horrifying trend we have all been witnessing in the past several years of violent antisemitic acts by neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other right-wing extremists.