Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomes the Aqaba Summit that the White House convened today in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, attended by representatives of the governments of Israel, the Palestinians, Jordan, Egypt, and the United States.
APN is encouraged by the language of the communique that the participants issued following their meeting.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today granted sweeping governing authorities in the West Bank to
his Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a measure that is a first step toward formal, de jure annexation of West
Bank occupied territories.
Americans for Peace Now (APN)
strongly condemns this step and calls on the Biden administration to demand that Israel reverse this
step.
The agreement between Netanyahu and Smotrich constitutes a structural change in the way Israel rules the
territory it captured in 1967. Instead of the occupied territory being subject to the military commander, as
stipulated in international law, civilian aspects of running the occupation will now be directed by a civilian
member of the occupying power who is explicitly committed to enhancing Israel’s sovereignty in the occupied West
Bank. In addition, Smotrich is committed to enhancing the direct application of Israeli laws over Israeli citizens
residing in the West Bank, Jewish settlers, hence solidifying the apartheid-like reality in the West
Bank.
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived.
1.Bills,
Resolutions & Letters
2. Media & Reports
3. Members on the Record
(Palestine/Palestinians)
4. Members on the Record
(Israel)
5.
Members on the Record (Iran)
6. Members on the Record (other
Mideast countries)
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.
Americans for Peace Now welcomes the Biden administration’s
statement in opposition to the Israeli government’s most recent settlement drive and urges the
administration to put muscle behind the words.
In a statement issued today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote: “We are deeply troubled by Israel’s decision yesterday to advance reportedly nearly 10,000 settlement units and to begin a process to retroactively legalize nine outposts in the West Bank that were previously illegal under Israeli law.” The statement noted that like previous administrations, Democratic and Republican, the Biden administration “strongly opposes” unilateral measures such as settlement activity, “which exacerbate tensions and undermine the prospects for a negotiated two-state solution.”
Rather than continuing to prioritize avoiding conflict with the government of Israel – while in fact the
Israeli government is perpetuating and enhancing the conflict through ”legalizing” illegal settlement activity –
the United States needs to stand behind its policy positions in deed and not just in word.
APN’s President and CEO Hadar Susskind said: “While we welcome this statement, and support Secretary Blinken’s call to avoid actions that escalate tensions, we also note, with deep frustration, that the Secretary and his aides doubled down on this message in recent conversations with Israel’s leaders. Prime Minister Netanyahu and members of his cabinet listened – and did the opposite. Words do not impress this government of extremists and provocateurs. The United States’ government has numerous tools to demonstrate its discontent in actions rather than words. Time has come for action.”
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.
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived.
Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomes news that the Biden administration has warned the newly- elected government of Israel against transferring civilian authorities in the occupied West Bank to far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, clarifying that it would regard such a move as a step toward annexation.
by MN State Rep. Frank Hornstein
Forty years ago today, in February 1983, I participated in a Jerusalem march and rally organized by Israel's Peace Now movement. The purpose of the event was to call attention to an Israeli Commission of Inquiry’s findings that Palestinian civilians in Beirut's Sabra neighborhood and nearby Shatila refugee camp had been massacred by the Lebanese Phalangist militia on September 18, 1982. The area was under Israel's military control at the time.
The Commission concluded Israel's then-Defense Minister Ariel Sharon was not directly involved, but complicit in the killings. Peace Now was demanding the government implement the report's conclusion to remove Sharon from his cabinet position.
I joined the Peace Now contingent at dusk in Jerusalem's Zion Square, and we walked toward Israel's parliament building some two miles away. The event started peacefully, but as the march ascended the Ben Yehuda Street Pedestrian Mall, right wing counter protesters appeared. They punched, kicked, and tore placards from the marchers. Some chanted and sang "Sharon melech yisrael." A few feet from me was Meir Kahane, the racist leader of the virulently anti-Arab Kach movement. He was perched on the shoulders of one of his minions-fists in the air--and yelling epithets at the protesters.
