Rabbi Esther L. Lederman is the associate rabbi of Temple Micah, in Washington, DC. She
travelled to Israel this December.
Before I left for Israel on a quick trip this past December, I told a colleague, “I am going to have my heart broken.” It had been six years since I had visited. Way too long, in my opinion. So off I went, expecting to return even more depressed about the state of affairs than when I left. I was wrong.
The Israeli prime minister has two main tasks, and he's failing at both.
Benjamin Netanyahu believes he has just one job, and that is to stop Iran from getting hold of nuclear weapons. He might argue that this description of his mission as Israel’s prime minister is too limiting, though such an argument would not be particularly credible. Israel’s very existence, he has argued, consistently, and at times convincingly, is predicated on stopping Iran, a country ruled by a regime that seeks both Israel’s annihilation and the means to carry it out.
In light of the Palestinian decision to seek membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC), and to pursue action in that body, and consistent with APN’s longstanding Board-adopted principles regarding the efforts of the Palestinians in the international arena, APN today articulated the following principles, adopted earlier this month by APN’s Board of Directors:
This week, Alpher discusses the repercussions of the invitation to Netanyahu to address Congress; the Mossad advisory against escalating sanctions and Israel’s tactics against Iran; the attack last week across the Golan border that was attributed to Israel that resulted in the death of an Iranian Quds Force general; strategic ramifications for the elections given the united electoral list of Arab citizens of Israel and the Labor primaries having produced a list with an unusually large, young contingent of women reform advocates; the strategic balance sheet that King Salman inherits after the death of Saudi King Abdullah last week and a coup staged in Yemen by a Zaidi-Shiite sect;
Americans for Peace Now (APN) calls on Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner (R-Ohio) to re-issue his invitation for the prime minister of Israel to address Congress for a later date, after the deadline for negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, and following the elections in Israel, after a new government coalition is formed.
APN’s President and CEO Debra DeLee said: “Both the timing of the invitation and its manner are outrageous. They are inappropriate and irresponsible. Not only were the invitations issued in a way that violates protocol, their timing suggests congressional meddling in a foreign county’s election campaign – two weeks only before Israel’s general elections, in which Benjamin Netanyahu is a candidate. Furthermore, the timing strongly suggests an attempt to use a foreign leader to influence the debate between Congress and the White House over America’s Iran policy. To top it all, this move uses Israel, yet again, as a wedge issue in internal American politics. Speaker Boehner’s invitation – both its timing and manner – is therefore a disservice to US national security interests and to Israel’s.
Recent developments demonstrate that the Netanyahu government continues to promote the settlement known as “E2” at
A-Nahla (Givat Eitam):
1. The Ministry of Housing has begun to plan the area for the settlement.
2. A new court decision regarding the status of the land is construed as partial approval of the land as state
land.
3. Israeli authorities have destroyed a Palestinian wheat field in the area designated for the settlement.
Americans for Peace Now (APN) is horrified and outraged by today's stabbing attack in Tel Aviv, which left 13 innocent civilians injured, some of them severely.
APN strongly condemns this terrorist attack by a young Palestinian from the West Bank, and stands with the people of Israel.
The stabber, a 22-year-old from the West Bank town of Tulkarm, reportedly told his interrogators that he was radicalized by recent violence and by Islamist messages. He apparently acted alone, not by order of a Palestinian organization. A spokesman for Hamas in the Gaza Strip praised his attack.
Americans for Peace Now (APN) is horrified and outraged by today's stabbing attack in Tel Aviv, which left 13 innocent civilians injured, some of them severely.
APN strongly condemns this terrorist attack by a young Palestinian from the West Bank, and stands with the people of Israel as they confront violence and terror.
This week, Alpher discusses the Israeli Air Force helicopter strike in the Golan; the broader strategic implications; the announcement last week in the Hague that the International Criminal Court was launching a preliminary inquiry to determine whether to investigate war crimes allegedly committed by Israel in last summer’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza; and why “Charlie Hebdo” drew so much more international attention than far more extensive Islamist atrocities perpetrated almost simultaneously by Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Qaeda and the Shiite-affiliated Houthis in Yemen
New fronts of warfare
The fight to keep Iran-focused diplomacy alive isn’t over. Last year, with your help, efforts by some Senators – backed by groups like AIPAC – to pass new, diplomacy-killing Iran sanctions in the Senate (S. 1881) were stopped in their tracks. Now, the same group is at it again, with new Iran sanctions legislation expected to be introduced in the Senate next week.
National Security Advisor Susan Rice has predicted that new Iran sanctions would “blow up” negotiations. President Obama has promised to veto the legislation if it makes it to his desk. But this isn’t stopping Senate Iran hawks and their supporters. They appear more determined than ever to move ahead with new sanctions and are working to muster a veto-proof majority.