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.
The recent slate of PeaceCast podcasts include recordings of APN's
webinar series on the Trump to Biden transition from Israeli, Palestinian, American, and European
perspectives.
From Aviva Meyer, APN Vice Chair, who has served as interim CEO:
To my family and friends...
1. Bills, Resolutions, and 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.
APN's daily news review from Israel - Thursday May 7, 2020
Number of the day: 28
Percentage of Jewish respondents who think Israel should annex territories in the West Bank, even if annexation will harm relations with Jordan, according to poll found that more Israelis care about peace with Jordan than annexation.*
LISTEN:
The European Union and its members have been following with great trepidation the Israeli government’s statements and plans to annex parts of the West Bank. The EU is strongly committed to the two-state solution, and n the past has warned that it will not recognize Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank and will “act accordingly” if Israel extends its sovereignty to the West Bank.
John Lyndon, the Executive Director of the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP), who is headquartered in Paris, provides excellent information and insight to better understand Europe’s concerns and possible actions about the prospects of West Bank annexation
John Lyndon is the executive director of ALLMEP, an organization that secures and scales up funding to expand trust-building interactions between Palestinians and Israelis.
Based in Paris, France, John was ALLMEP’s first European Director, founding its new office in Paris in 2018. He closely monitors the policy of the European Union and its member states – as well as the policy of other European countries – on Israeli-Palestinian affairs.
A regular contributor and commentator on events in the Middle East, his writing has featured in numerous international publications, and he is a frequent analyst on television and radio shows on this topic.
Each country has its own unique challenges to deal with when it comes to combating the coronavirus due to the physical, social and economic make-up of the state. Therefore, comparing countries is never a like-for-like scenario but it can be useful in determining what actions are useful and harmful in the response. The UAE, Japan and Austria all have a similar number of recorded cases to Israel (16,289 cases), so what can be learned from them as Israel begins to reopen?
The most serious setback to peace in the Middle East has taken place under the cloud of the coronavirus and the internal Israeli political scene. A chance, however, still exists for a unified Arab coalition with action by American Jews to create a firewall that will help preserve a chance for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
As part of the deal for the emergency government between the Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival and former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, an Israeli government-in-the-making is on the record as supporting unilateral annexation of large swaths of the West Bank.
Israel appears to be set on a dangerous anti-peace act that will destroy the very fragile and quickly lapsing chance for a Palestinian-Israeli two-state peace deal.
