Update: this action, now closed, ran in May 2018. 

Yesterday, President Trump announced his choice of former Republican Congressman and current CIA director Mike Pompeo to be his nominee for Secretary of State. This is a potentially catastrophic decision that could lead the U.S. to war against Iran and threaten Israel’s national security.

Pompeo is an ultra-hawk on Iran and fierce critic of the Iran nuclear deal. After Trump was elected in November 2016, Pompeo tweeted, "I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism." He has used his post as CIA Director to push for the demise of the agreement, and we expect him to continue to do so as Secretary of State. This is despite the continued support for the deal from numerous U.S. and Israeli security figures.

President Trump today fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and nominated CIA Director Mike Pompeo to succeed him in heading the State Department.

What do you need to know? Here are key takeaways from the shakeup at State, including links to recommended readings.

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.

This week, Alpher discusses Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's upcoming, unprecedented three-week visit to the US; whether there is an Israel angle to MbS's visions; Jason Greenblatt's opinion piece last week in the Washington Post which seemingly envisioned a future Hamas role in a US-led peace process; and Hamas's upcoming mass march toward Israel’s border fence planned for May 15, the seventieth anniversary of Israeli independence and of the Palestinian “nakba”.

Update: this action, now closed, ran in March 2018. 

On March 5^th, 2018, Senator Schumer stood before 18,000 AIPAC activists and told them what they wanted to hear: Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not an obstacle to peace. This ridiculous statement brought the AIPAC crowd to its feet, but it further damaged the cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace.

As a seasoned politician, Senator Schumer knows that settlements are a chief obstacle to peace. Settlements are not only an obstacle to a two-state peace solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they are a tool that extremists use to torpedo two-states. Yet he chose to misrepresent the facts and pander to AIPAC.

Sign our petition! Ask Senator Schumer to tell the truth about the occupation, West Bank Settlements and Israeli-Palestinian peace.

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman had a front-row seat at this week’s AIPAC conference. The camera panned frequently to Friedman, reportedly the key shaper of US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as AIPAC darlings like US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pandered to the crowd.

Friedman made waves during his own speech in which he lambasted the catchphrase, “pro-Israel, pro-peace,” that APN first popularized nearly two decades ago. Friedman shared these pearls of wisdom with the AIPAC crowd: 

• “Pro-Israel and pro-peace sounds like a completely reasonable position. My friends, it is not.”

• “It is no less than blasphemous to suggest that any Jew or any Christian is against peace.”

• “If there is no peace in the Middle East as we speak, and regrettably there is not, I strongly suggest that we blame someone other than Israel.”

(see the transcript of the entire speech)

We’ve got news for you, Ambassador Friedman. Supporters of Israel are not, as you suggest, inherently pro-peace because their faith traditions include liturgy that exalts the value of peace. If your version of “pro-Israel” entails supporting the settlements (as you have spent your adult life doing) and denying the occupation, you are denying Israelis the peace they need, want, and deserve. You are thwarting the future of an Israel that remains Jewish and a liberal democracy. And as such, you are pushing Israel to follow a course that imperils its future.

“Pro-Israel and pro-peace sounds like a completely reasonable position. My friends, it is not.” – US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman 

Watch Dr. Debra Shushan on Israel's i24 News! Debra discusses AIPAC's losing battle for progressive support and what it means to be pro-Israel, pro-peace (a term popularized nearly 20 years ago by APN) in the Trump Era. She is APN's Director of Policy and Government Relations.  

@ShushanAPN, of left-wing @PeaceNowUS, and @omriceren, of @israelproject, discuss where progressives fit in with @AIPAC: pic.twitter.com/5bGhf3gpQG

— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) March 6, 2018

Trump has consistently privileged the Israeli narrative and claims over those of the Palestinians. In his Jerusalem decision he also helped the destructive, unnecessary transformation of the conflict from a political to a religious struggle.

Mae Elise Cannon, Yahya Hendi, and Debra Shushan

President Trump’s decision in December to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and commence moving the US embassy was harmful enough.

And still, he has managed – repeatedly – to make it worse. In the latest development, the State Department announced last week that a provisional U.S. embassy in Jerusalem will open on May 14, timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s establishment.

The Trump Administration’s original decision was fatally flawed.

In the absence of a final settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in which Palestinian claims to Jerusalem are addressed, the decision was blatantly one-sided. American credibility as an honest broker plummeted, Trump’s avowed goal of reaching the "ultimate deal" was set back, and the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and His Holiness Pope Francis condemned the new policy.

Washington, DC – Commenting on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington, his meeting with President Trump, and his speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference today, Americans for Peace Now's President and CEO Debra DeLee issued the following statement:

"Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu again missed an opportunity to offer Israelis, Palestinians, Americans, and the world a shred of hope for peace.

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.

This week, Alpher discusses the dilemmas Prime Minister Netanyahu is leaving behind during his visit to the U.S.; whether Netanyahu could be trying to dissolve his coalition; the peace process; where the Gaza Strip is in these calculations; and the growing likelihood of a “first northern war” pitting Israel against Iran and its allies in Syria and Lebanon.