November 18, 2024- Americans for Peace Now welcomes the Biden Administration’s announcement of new sanctions
on extremist West Bank settlement organizations and settlers.
The sanctions on the largest West Bank Settlement organization, Amana and its subsidiary, Binyanei Bar Amana Ltd, are long overdue. Amana has played a significant role in facilitating the establishment of illegal outposts and driving Palestinians from their land.
November 12, 2024- Americans for Peace Now President and CEO Hadar Susskind said: The priority of the United States vis-a-vis Israel right now should be to secure a ceasefire and ensure the release of hostages. Security experts in Israel and the United States agree that can only come about through diplomatic measures.
November 11, 2024- As we near the end of the 30 day period for Israel to significantly increase humanitarian
aid allowed into Gaza on Wednesday, it is clear that Israel continues to fall short of its obligations under
Section 620I of the US Foreign Assistance Act.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza remains dire. Last week, the UN’s Famine Review Committee stated that it could be "assumed that starvation, malnutrition, and excess mortality due to malnutrition and disease, are rapidly increasing" in northern Gaza, warning that "famine thresholds may have already been crossed or else will be in the near future.”
The following statement was issued by Ameinu, Americans for Peace Now, Habonim Dror North America, J Street, New Israel Fund, New York Jewish Agenda, Partners for Progressive Israel, and T’ruah.
Last week our organizations sent a letter to the heads of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and Jewish Federations of North America expressing our unease regarding the upcoming Stand Together event taking place on November 10, in Washington, DC. We appreciated that the executives of these organizations took the time to meet with us and hear our concerns directly as to why we, unfortunately, cannot comfortably participate in this event. At a time of such divisiveness in our public discourse, it was incredibly important that we were able to discuss our differences with civility while also acknowledging our shared commitment to the Jewish people.
November 6, 2024- Americans for Peace Now remains deeply committed to our values, our country’s democracy, and the struggle for peace and justice for Israelis and Palestinians alike, and we will fight for them. Whatever challenges may arise, we will push the incoming Congress and the Trump administration to respect our democracy, and we will never surrender in our struggle to make our world a better place.
November 5, 2024- Earlier today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for the second time, fired Defense
Minister Yoav Gallant. Netanyahu has replaced Gallant with Israel Katz, the current Foreign Minister, and said that
Gideon Sa'ar would replace Mr. Katz as Foreign Minister.
APN President and CEO Hadar Susskind said: “On a day when the corruption of his administration
is the talk of Israel, Netanyahu has fired his Defense Minister. Gallant, who deserves his large share of the blame
for his role in the war, is at least qualified to serve as Defense Minister. He will be replaced by Israel Katz, a
longtime Likud party minion who was a feckless Foreign Minister and has no qualifications to serve as Defense
Minister.
October 29- Americans for Peace Now strongly condemns the passage of two bills in the Knesset yesterday to
bar the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from operating within Israel and the occupied Palestinian
territories.
In the months following the horrific attacks on October 7, troubling allegations about the involvement of a
handful of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) employees came to light. UNRWA and the UN responded
swiftly to the accusations by immediately terminating the employees allegedly involved, ordering an independent
outside review of the agency’s neutrality practices, and directing a review of the allegations by the UN’s highest
investigative body, the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).
We remain deeply troubled by the affiliation of individual UNRWA employees with Hamas, but we cannot allow the actions of a handful of people, however heinous, to overshadow the critical role UNRWA plays in Gaza’s survival. UNRWA is the primary aid organization in Gaza, and its work there is crucial.
October 21, 2024- Today, Representative James P. McGovern (D-MA), Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee and Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, led 64 of his colleagues in calling on the Biden Administration to push for Israel to allow American and international journalists unimpeded access to Gaza.
Americans for Peace Now strongly supports Representative McGovern and his colleague’s push for increased press access to Gaza, which amplifies a call from over 70 media and civil society organizations from this past July.
As the Members wrote, “The absence of foreign media reporting has created significant challenges in obtaining accurate, verifiable information from Gaza, leading to increased skepticism about the limited reports that do emerge. At a time when reliable information is more critical than ever, the restrictions on independent reporting undermine the very foundation of press freedom and democratic accountability.”
October 17, 2024- While it is yet to be confirmed, reports indicate that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by the IDF earlier today in Gaza. If those reports are accurate, the Israeli government, Hamas, the United States, and all interested parties should seize this moment to declare an immediate ceasefire. This must of course include the return of all hostages and the admission of a massive influx of aid to the people of Gaza.
After more than a year of the horror of war, the Netanyahu government has still never offered any strategic
vision or definition of success beyond their meaningless slogan of “total victory.” Certainly, from the Israeli
perspective, the killing of Sinwar is a victory. Now is the moment for Israelis and Palestinians, with support from
the United States and others, to demand of their leaders an end to this war. Additionally, we urge the Biden
Administration to exert every ounce of leverage it has with the Israeli government and Hamas’s leadership, and
bring this bloody conflict to an end. There is no “total victory” for Israel and certainly none for Hamas. There
can only be respite for long-suffering innocent Palestinians and Israelis, who deserve the chance to begin to
rebuild their shattered societies before it is too late.
October 16, 2024- Americans for Peace Now welcomes the recent letter from the Biden administration to the Israeli government, emphasizing the urgent need to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza within the next 30 days. But it is not enough.
The government of Israel has been arbitrarily impeding humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip for over a year, in violation of both Section 620I of the US Foreign Assistance Act and the Biden administration’s own National Security Memorandum 20. These actions not only exacerbate the suffering of civilians but also undermine US commitments to human rights and international law.
It is time for the Biden administration to translate its strong language into meaningful action. We urge the administration to impose real consequences for these violations, rather than allowing a cycle of statements to be followed by inaction.