APN's daily news review from Israel - Tuesday June 9, 2020

NOTE: APN invites you to join a briefing call on West Bank Annexation: A View from the Knesset - with MK Merav Michaeli of Israel’s Labor Party, a member of the opposition in the Knesset, and a longtime advocate for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Date: Thursday, June 11th
Time: 11:00 am (Eastern Time)
Dial-in Number: 951-797-1058
Participant Access Code: 147414

Quote of the Day:

“…We already know the illusion of euphoria, and if there is anything we have learned since (the Six Day War) it’s that our wars today are not over in six days.”
—In a Maariv Op-Ed, Dr. Orit Miller-Katav warns those who believe that annexing parts of the West Bank sounds like a good idea now.*

APN's daily news review from Israel - Monday June 8, 2020

Quote of the day:

"In '47, they were offered to settle for half of Palestine, but they refused and lost a considerable share of the land. In 1967, they and their Jordanian patrons lost everything else. They came to Oslo weak, so they agreed to give up three-quarters of Palestine, provided they had an independent state in less than a third of the territory. Now the Jews want to gnaw on what remains."
--Maariv Middle East analyst, Jacky Khougy, shares the Palestinian view of Israel's plans to annex West Bank land.*

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 - Sunday June 7, 2020

Quotes of the day:

“We are at a crossroads. One path leads to a joint society with a real democracy, civil and national equality for Arab citizens…The second path leads to hatred, violence, annexation and apartheid. We’re here in Rabin Square to pick the first path.”
—Joint List Chairman, Ayman Odeh, said in a speech to joint Jewish-Arab rally in Tel Aviv against Israeli plans to annex West Bank settlements.*

“There is no such thing as democracy for Jews alone. Just like Martin Luther King and his supporters in the United States, we must realize that without justice there can be no peace. And there will be no social justice if we do not end the occupation."
—Joint List Chairman, Ayman Odeh, said in a speech to demonstrators at a joint Jewish-Arab rally in Tel Aviv against Israeli plans to annex West Bank settlements.*

"In the words of my friend Ayman Odeh: The only future is a shared future.”
—US politician Bernie Sanders tells a joint Jewish-Arab rally in Tel Aviv against Israeli plans to annex West Bank settlements.*

1. Bills, Resolutions, & Letters
2. Hearings
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.

June 4, 2020

Dear Vice President Biden,

As a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization, we do not engage in electoral work and we do not support or oppose candidates. What we do is work for a peaceful two-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security.

Unfortunately, that vision of two sovereign states living side by side is under threat. Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government are finalizing their plans for unilateral annexation of West Bank territory. They have recently indicated that they are rushing toward annexation to take advantage of the Trump administration’s support for such a move. They refer to the next six months as a “historic opportunity” to establish facts on the ground. They hope that Trump’s view, an aberration inconsistent with decades of bipartisan US policy, would not be revoked by future US administrations.

That is why we are writing to urge you to declare now that if you are elected as the next president of the United States, you will not recognize any unilateral Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank. Such a statement, now, could convince Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to cancel its annexation plan. At the very least, if Netanyahu does annex before you take office, it would make it easier for you to confront Netanyahu over this unhelpful policy in the future.

This photo of me at age seven was taken in June of 1967, just outside my home in Jerusalem, a couple of days after the Six Day War ended. I am sitting here on a Jeep that Israeli soldiers seized during the war in the West Bank, and somehow ended up in our neighborhood.

I remember how euphoric everyone was. Even the kids. During the weeks and months that followed, my family, like many Israelis, rushed to explore the liberated land of the Bible.

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

You Must Be Kidding: 

“I felt that I had to let them vent.
The reason why officer 1st Lt. Guy Eliahu allowed his soldiers vandalize Palestinian cars at a Nablus refugee camp. (See Features below.)

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.