Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived
Government Relations
APN maintains strong relationships with Members of Congress, congressional staff, and Executive Branch officials. A non-partisan organization . with a non-partisan mission, APN supplies timely information, analysis, expertise and education, providing a pro-Israel, pro-peace, American Jewish perspective on issues and legislation related to Israel and the quest for Middle East peace and, security. APN also engages in advocacy, directly and through its nationwide Action Network, to promote pro-Israel/pro-peace legislation and policy
APN publishes the Legislative Round-Up -- the most comprehensive resource available anywhere on Middle East-related developments on Capitol Hill -- every Friday when Congress is in session. APN also hosts policy briefings on Capitol Hill and brings experts to meet with policy makers to maintain a steady flow of balanced information from the region.
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived
On February 8, APN and 16 other Jewish organizations sent a letter authored and organized by NCJW to White House Chief of Staff General John Kelly expressing our deep concern that Senior Policy Advisor Stephen Miller does not belong in national leadership due to his extreme viewpoints and advocacy of racist policies.
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived
Shameless plug: Recently there has been a lot of debate over the
Pew Poll published 1/23/18 showing a decline in support for Israel among Democrats. Various insightful
explanations have been given, highlighting weakness of the poll, the role of partisan sentiment related to Trump,
and impact of Israeli policies. Missing from all of these analyses, however, is acknowledgement of a key trend in
the U.S. that is contributing, inevitably, to this result. This is the trend where “pro-Israel” is increasingly
defined to mean supporting and defending brazenely illiberal policies within the United States. When ostensibly
progressive politicians and groups choose illiberalism-in-defense-of-Israel – for example, when supporting
unconstitutional legislation that seeks to gag free speech of U.S. citizens in order to insulate Israel from
criticism and pressure (ongoing efforts in Congress are discussed in Section 1, below) – they are contributing to
the diminution of support for Israel among Americans who are repulsed by the notion that support for Israel demands
the sacrifice of the values and rights that are at the core of what it means to be a progressive. I wrote about
this phenomenon in an op-ed this
week in the Forward.
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived
- Bills, Resolutions & Letters – Israel/Palestine
- Bills, Resolutions & Letters – Iran
- Bills, Resolutions & Letters – Other Mideast Issues
- Hearings
- On the Record re: Trump’s Jerusalem Move & Aftermath
- On the Record re: Iran – protests & more
- On the Record re: Palestinians
- On the Record re: Everything Else Mideast-related
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 important lessons from Trump’s December 6 declaration on Jerusalem; how the administration's recent statement - “We cannot envision any situation under which the Western Wall would not be part of Israel” - made the situation worse; if we're looking at a new intifada; examples from the recent past wherein far more sophisticated attempts at fostering peace ended up doing more damage than good; and other empty slogans related to the peace process.
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived
Note: Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the big news on the Middle East front this week was President Trump’s “Jerusalem Proclamation,” recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announcing the start of the process to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. There have been tons of excellent (and not-so-excellent) articles on the issue. Shameless plug here for two from me:
Huffington Post 12/6: Making America’s Mideast Policy Great Again?
Times of Israel 12/6: Reflections on the Death of the Peace Process
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived