Everyone remembers the Princess Bride. Who can forget the drama, the humor, the love story between Buttercup, and the dashing hero, Westley, aka the Dread Pirate Roberts. And who could forget the haunted, lovable Inigo Montoya - the sword-wielding mercenary-turned-hero determined to avenge the death of his father at the hands of the six-fingered man.

This week, Alpher discusses the NSA listening in on Israel and whether the repeated leaks from Washington that link Israel to mysterious attacks on Syrian missiles are in the same category, Secretary of State Kerry's returning to Israel and Palestine this week and what new initiatives by the two sides await him upon arrival, and why the IDF needs more money now, with security threats from the Arab world reduced by chaos and revolution

This week, Alpher discusses that given both an intensifying Israeli-Palestinian negotiating process and a spike in violent incidents with Palestinians, which way we are heading; whether, in addition to the Saudi decision to reject a UN Security Council seat, there are additional manifestations of anger or disappointment with America among its Middle East friends; and what was significant about Israel's recent municipal elections for the broader public and political scene.

Earlier this week, APN Director of Policy and Government Relations, Lara Friedman, had the honor (and fun) of participating in the 2013 Google Ideas Summit in New York, as part of a panel entitled, "Digital Word Warriors." The panel was moderated by Michele Dunne, of the Atlantic Council.

This week, Alpher discusses the renewed mystery regarding the cause of Yasser Arafat's death in 2004, what does Saudi Arabia's election to the UN Security Council followed by its prompt resignation tell us about Saudi-American relations and the Saudi role in the Iran and Syria issues, and why did it take so long for PM Netanyahu and Finance Minister Lapid to appoint Karnit Flug (pictured) as new governor of the Bank of Israel?

The following article was published in the English edition of Israel's Haaretz daily on October 13, 2013

By Ori Nir 

Two recently published surveys should make the Israeli government pause and ponder the impact of its intransigent policies on its staunchest supporters, American Jews.

This is the ninth in a series of reviews of new books on Middle Eastern affairs. We asked Dr. Gail Weigl, an APN volunteer and a professor of art history, to review Sayed Kashua's novel on Jewish-Arab relations in Israel. 

The Israeli daily, Ma'ariv, recently ran a story about construction in East Jerusalem, and told its readers, "These figures were given to us by Hagit Ofran, who heads the Settlement Watch program for Peace Now [Shalom Achshav]. Ofran carefully monitors each and every construction permit given to neighborhoods beyond the Green Line and documents them. She was the only one who could give us the precise numbers in an orderly Excel chart."

This week at J Street, APN hosted the panel: Settlements--Not Too Late, moderated by APN's President and CEO, Debra DeLee. Panelists included APN's Lara Friedman, the Director of Policy and Government Relations, and Peace Now's Secretary General, Yariv Oppenheimer, as well as Dan Rothem, Senior Research Consultant of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace and Daniel Seidemann, Founder and Director of Terrestrial Jerusalem.

Returning to Israel after a week in Washington, Israel-Palestine experts Daniel Seidemann and Dan Rothem are encouraged by the Obama administration's commitment to advance peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians. They spoke with us at APN's office in Washington.