Jerusalem, Israel – A delegation representing American for Peace Now (APN) met yesterday with Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin at the President’s residence in Jerusalem.
The delegation, headed by APN’s Chair of the Board James Klutznick (pictured with the
President), congratulated Rivlin for his recent election to be Israel’s tenth president.
Rivlin expressed appreciation for APN’s support of the state of Israel and for caring about its future as a Jewish state and a democracy.
Klutznick pointed out that unlike APN and its Israeli sister organization, Shalom Achshav (Peace Now), President Rivlin does not support the two-state solution. President Rivlin replied that if the Israeli Knesset adopts a two-state solution he will not oppose it. “We should live here with open borders, whether in one state or in two states,” he said.
Asked how he planned to use the office of the President to advance efforts for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Rivlin replied that in his opinion, peace ought to start with improving relations between Israel’s Jewish majority and its Arab minority. He said that he hopes to use the office of the President to turn conflicts into constructive debates.
--Justic Minister Tzipi Livni speaking at special cabinet discussion on ISIS threat.**
Last week, Elliot Abrams and Uri Sadot co-authored yet another defense of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s settlement policy. At the heart of their case is this assertion:
Israel's actual settlement construction pace has reached a historical low. Only 507 housing units were approved for construction by Netanyahu’s government in the first six months of 2014, a 71.9 percent decrease from the same period in 2013…
What does the data actually say?
--Haaretz commentator and senior editor Bradley Burston takes apart Elliot Abrams lies in Foreign Policy about settlements.**
--Israeli former security officials and academics write letter calling on Prime Minister to embrace the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002, which, they write, has support of most Israelis and Palestinians.**
8/9/14
The High Court of Justice issued yesterday (7/9/14) a detailed pre-ruling decision on a petition by landowners from the village of Nahla, located northeast of Efrat, contesting the declaration of 1,341 dunams as state lands. In its decision, the court rejected most of the petitioners' arguments, but suggested referring the case back to the appeals committee in order to discuss the question of whether it is possible to declare a parcel of land as state land if only part of it is being cultivated.
The state must announce by September 30, 2014 whether it accepts the court's proposal.
Q. The Obama administration appears to be engaging in limited military cooperation with Iran against
the Islamic State. How does this sit with Israel?
A. This development leaves the Israeli security establishment very uneasy.
APN is live-tweeting our annual study tour through Israel and the West Bank, as participants meet with politicians, journalists, and experts- all while witnessing first-hand the consequences of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. See below for highlights of the tour so far, and follow APN's twitter feed for up-to-the-second tweets, including those from Israel.