This week, Alpher discusses what we can expect in Israel and Israel-US relations in 2016; the notion that the Palestinian issue increasingly will become an internal Israeli affair; how the Arab and Muslim worlds will respond to this and if we will witness external aggression against Israel; and prospects for some sort of international political agreement regarding Syria, spearheaded by the US and Russia

 What is the bill? What does the bill say?

NOTE: This post was updated on January 21, 2016, to reflect changes introduced to the draft bill, as submitted by the cabinet to the Knesset on January 18, 2016. The language of the bill (Hebrew) can be found here. 

The bill’s official title is “Amendment to Bill on disclosure regarding those supported by a foreign political entity (Increasing transparency for those supported mainly by foreign political entities)." It is also known by its backers as the “Transparency Bill.” The bill is an amendment to an existing 2011 law, which determines the disclosure requirements of Israeli non-profit, non-governmental organizations (NGOs or NPOs) that receive funding from “Foreign Political Entities” (foreign governments, the European Union or the United Nations).

The Israeli government’s gift to Washington this holiday season was the gift of occupation. Literally so. You may have missed the story because of the holiday, but shortly before Christmas, Benjamin Netanyahu’s ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, proudly announced that this year, instead of sending products made in Israel to American friends, he is breaking with tradition and sending gift boxes  containing products made exclusively in settlements in the occupied territories.

Allegedly, this was intended as a message to those who call for punitive economic measures against Israel (ironically, it plays into their hands), but it clearly was aimed at the Obama administration’s rejection of Netanyahu’s settlement policies. Another Netanyahu finger in the eye of an American administration that had the audacity to attempt to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Washington, DC – Americans for Peace Now (APN) is alarmed by new evidence, exposed today by our Israeli sister organization Peace Now, indicating that the Israeli government is planning massive new settlement construction in the West Bank, including in an area known as “E-1” adjacent to East Jerusalem. Settlement construction in E-1 would likely be a death blow to the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It has therefore been consistently and vehemently opposed by both Republican and Democratic administrations, and by the international community.  

The new evidence, some 200 pages Peace Now obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, shows that for the past year, Israel’s Ministry of Housing has been actively working outside of the public's eye to advance plans for 55,548 new homes in West Bank settlements.

News from Peace Now's (Israel) Settlement Watch:

A Settlement Watch Report

This week, Alpher discusses why the most senior ministers of Israel’s right-wing coalition are taking a strong stand against terrorist attacks by extremist fringe settlers, even though it is a pro-settler coalition; whether new political and ideological lines have been drawn and the political right woken up to the excesses of the settlement enterprise; what are the new regional dynamics and alignments emerging from the Islamic State challenge to the Middle East across the region, with Turkey and Israel talking again, Saudi Arabia establishing a 34-member Islamic coalition, and Israel reportedly assassinating a Hezbollah terrorist in the all-but-occupied (by Russia) Syrian capital of Damascus; and where Israel is in this dynamic.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) is alarmed and appalled by the Israeli Cabinet's approval today of a bill aimed at intimidating and silencing progressive Israeli non-profit organizations such as our sister-organization Peace Now (Shalom Achshav), Israel's preeminent peace movement.

The bill, introduced by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked of the far-right Jewish Home party compels representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs, or non-profit organizations), which receive funding from foreign governments, to wear special tags on their clothing whenever visiting the Knesset, and to provide details about their foreign funding in any communication with elected officials.

Please read these important messages from Jerusalem expert Danny Seidemann and filmmaker Dror Moreh. We hope you find them compelling, and support our efforts to bring lasting peace for Israel and Palestine. May 2016 bring us closer to this goal.

Todah Rabah,
Americans for Peace Now

 

Dear Friend,

Why is Jerusalem burning?

I'm usually the opposite of a prophet of doom. Many journalists see peddling the apocalypse of Jerusalem as a fast track to a Pulitzer Prize, so there's a tendency to overstate the city's volatility. But Jerusalem is usually a far more stable city than its reputation. At the beginning of the recent uptick in violence, people were saying, "Ah, this happens every year around the Jewish High Holidays. This is just another perennial round of skirmishing. We see this all the time."

Thousands of Israelis, Jews and Arabs, participated in a Peace Now-sponsored march Saturday night, December 19. Starting at the Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv and ending in a rally at the Yitzhak Rabin memorial, marchers demonstrated against the bigotry, intolerance and incitement of Israel’s right wing, targeting progressive organizations and activists. Participants accused Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of setting a belligerent public tone, which inspires and encourages right-wing organizations and pundits to further escalate the discourse.

Peace Now activists carried signs saying “The Right will not Silence Me,” and “Drive away the Darkness; Stop the Fascism” as well as stickers saying: “I too am Breaking the Silence,” reference to the anti-occupation soldiers’ organization that is currently the target of right-wing attacks.