March 25, 2024 - Americans for Peace Now (APN) strongly supports President Biden’s decision to allow passage of the United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The resolution demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, that would lead to a lasting and sustainable ceasefire. It also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

The US vetoed three earlier ceasefire resolutions and continues to provide Israel with military aid. Now, in the wake of Netanyahu’s cancellation of an Israeli delegation’s visit to Washington to discuss the invasion of Rafah, President Biden should be clear that the US will oppose any Rafah operations that compromise the safety of the more than one million civilians there. Additionally, we call upon the administration to follow the existing US law that conditions continuing military aid on the free flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza civilians.

APN’s President and CEO Hadar Susskind said: “Netanyahu can cancel his ministers' trips and throw tantrums, but refusing to engage with Israel’s only powerful ally will achieve nothing other than deepening its isolation. If Netanyahu moves forward with a Rafah operation without agreement with the US, he will demonstrate once again that he is prioritizing his own political survival over the future of the people of Israel. This war needs to come to an end. Until it does, President Biden should make sure that any US aid is used only in compliance with US law.”

Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin, a scholar and writer, is an international political and strategic consultant. She has advised and conducted research on nine national campaigns in Israel over the past twenty years, and has provided research and advising for elections, referendums, and civil society campaigns in fifteen different countries. She is the author of The Crooked Timber of Democracy in Israel. 

Recently, Shalom Achshav released their 2023 settlement report. Their findings were disturbing even by the standards of the actions of Netanyahu’s far-right extremist government.  Under the cover of the Gaza war, conditions in the West Bank have quietly but dramatically shifted for the worse. We have seen a record number of plans for new construction, minimal law enforcement against illegal settler activity, substantial budgets for expanding settlements and outposts, and, most significantly, almost unconditional political support from the government for settlers, even in cases involving violence against Palestinians.

To discuss these alarming updates, we spoke with someone on the front lines of observing and analyzing settlement activity.  Hagit Ofran is the co-director of Shalom Achshav’s Settlement Watch program, and is widely recognized as Israel’s foremost expert on Israeli settlements.

March 20, 2024 - We are deeply disturbed by the condemnatory statement issued yesterday by the Conference of Presidents (COP) following a meeting with Majority Leader Schumer. Though the critical COP statement was made in the name of the CEO and President, it claims to speak for COP “membership” when in fact it clearly fails to reflect the diversity of views within the COP. 

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.

By Hadar Susskind and Ori Nir

Yesterday, we wrapped up APN’s ten-day 2024 Israel-Palestine tour. We met with Israelis and Palestinians – politicians, civil society activists, families of  hostages and experts. We were at Kibbutz Be’eri in the south and at Um El-Fahem the north. We saw East and West Jerusalem, as well as Tel Aviv and Haifa.

We visited a country whose citizens (and residents) are struggling with immense trauma, pain, and sadness. We listened with empathy to everyone we saw, even when it was extremely difficult. It was a full program, all of the participants who took notes are running out of pages in their notebooks. Interestingly, perhaps the most compelling moments were the unscripted ones, those that suddenly emerged to surprise us. One such moment took place during our settlement watch tour with our colleagues from Shalom Achshav. When trying to enter a road near the West Bank settlement of Shiloh, two guards at the gate-- both settlers who were drafted for reserve IDF service-- told us in very blunt terms that Arabs are not allowed in. As we had two Palestinians on the bus (our driver, who is a Jerusalem
resident, and our guide, who is an Israeli citizen), we were denied entry.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomes the news that the Biden administration has announced a second round of sanctions under the President's executive order to address extremist settler violence. This new tranche of sanctions targets outposts in addition to individuals. As such, it represents a significant step in the effort to address ongoing settler violence.

By targeting outposts rather than solely focusing on individuals, the United States is sending a powerful message that it will not tolerate logistical or financial support for settlers’ attacks against Palestinian civilians.

Americans for Peace Now’s President and CEO, Hadar Susskind said: “For too long, illegal outposts have served as launchpads for settler violence. These actions, including freezing assets and imposing visa bans, demonstrate the United States’ firm commitment to curbing settler violence.”