Americans for Peace Now (APN) strongly condemns the recent demolitions in the Palestinian village of al Walaja, near Jerusalem, where three homes were destroyed today, following the demolition of two homes last week.

The demolitions follow repeated failure by Israeli authorities to fulfill their responsibility to prepare a master plan for al-Walaja, which would allow residents to legally live and build in their village. Additionally, the government has refused to accept a master plan that the residents of Walaja paid for and prepared with a professional planner. In fact, Israeli authorities seem committed to blocking growth at al-Walaja and demolishing existing structures because of a planned road that will serve adjacent settlements.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomes last night’s announcement of the memorandum titled "Safeguards and Accountability With Respect to Transferred Defense Articles and Defense Services," issued by President Biden and modeled on Senator Chris Van Hollen’s recent amendment to the foreign assistance supplemental bill. APN commends President Biden and Senator Van Hollen for their commitment to oversight and transparency in the utilization of US security assistance.

This memorandum is an important step towards ensuring that US security assistance aligns with international law, including humanitarian principles. The memorandum requires recipient countries to provide credible and reliable assurances that they will adhere to international humanitarian law and facilitate US humanitarian assistance in areas of conflict in advance of receiving US assistance.

Hadar Susskind, APN’s President and CEO said: "We have long called for transparency and accountability measures to ensure Israel’s use of US military assistance aligns with existing US and international laws. This memorandum signifies an important step towards oversight and responsible use of US assistance.”

As the Senate considers legislation that would send supplemental assistance to Israel, Americans for Peace Now (APN) calls on legislators to ensure that all recipients of US foreign assistance adhere to established US and international human rights laws by adopting the amendment put forth by Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Dick Durbin, (D-IL), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Brian Schatz (D-HI).

We call on the Senate to adopt this important amendment to implement key guardrails on US security assistance to Israel, ensuring that military operations supported by US tax dollars comply with American and international humanitarian law, with measures to minimize civilian casualties.

APN’s President and CEO Hadar Susskind said: “US foreign aid must not be used in ways that violate human rights laws. This amendment reflects a commitment to accountability, transparency, and the responsible use of American resources. I urge Congress to ensure that taxpayer dollars allocated for security assistance are used responsibly and in accordance with established legal frameworks.”

As both chambers of Congress consider legislation that would send supplemental assistance to Israel, Americans for Peace Now (APN) calls on legislators to ensure that these bills reflect US values and existing laws by providing vital humanitarian assistance to address the growing crisis in Gaza. Congress must also ensure that all recipients of US foreign assistance adhere to established US and international human rights laws.

Israel faces a war on two fronts, and the foreign military assistance outlined in the President’s supplemental funding request would continue to provide resources during this volatile time.

However, there is a pressing need for accountability regarding Israel's use of US-provided equipment. Adherence to both US and international laws, as well as the protection of civilians, must be a guiding principle of US assistance to all aid recipients. We call on Congress to implement key guardrails on US security assistance to Israel, ensuring that military operations supported by US tax dollars comply with American and international humanitarian law, with measures to minimize civilian casualties.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomes news that the Biden administration is considering recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state and we urge it to move from deliberating to doing so.

The State of Palestine was accepted as an observer state of the United Nations General Assembly more than a decade ago. By recognizing the State of Palestine, the U.S. will join 139 out of 193 UN member states, and turn its long stated policy of support for a two-state solution into meaningful action. Recognition of the State of Palestine is not an alternative to a negotiated, mutually acceptable two-state peace agreement, but it is a meaningful step in that direction and would help pave the way toward it.

Since the Biden administration took office, APN has been calling on it to recognize the State of Palestine as a way to actualize America’s stated support of a two-state solution.

APN’s President and CEO Hadar Susskind said: “President Biden, going back to his days in the Senate, has long supported a two-state solution. Hopefully, his administration will remind all those who claim to support two states that those two states are Israel and Palestine.  Recognition of a Palestinian state is precisely what it means to support a two-state solution, in deeds as well as in words.”

Americans for Peace Now (APN) urges the government of Israel to comply with the provisional measures ordered today by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and calls upon the Biden administration to commit to working with Israel to ensure compliance.

The measures ordered by the ICJ are reasonable and justified. Adherence would provide vital relief for the Gaza Strip’s civilian population, and allow for Israel and the international community to fairly scrutinize Israel’s conduct in its military campaign in Gaza.

We welcome Israel’s representative to the Court, Former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak’s joining the Court’s majority’s order that Israeli officials who incite genocide be investigated and punished.

We further reiterate our call, made earlier this month, for the Biden administration to push Israel to adopt and implement an immediate exit strategy from the war in the Gaza Strip. As we formerly stated, a first step must be engaging with relevant world powers to devise a formula for the release of all hostages held in Gaza. A second step must be devising a reliable mechanism to provide adequate shipments of essentials - food, water, medicine, and fuel – to Gaza’s population.

We reiterate our position that ending the fighting and sending aid are essential, but not sufficient. The United States should also push for a series of steps to keep the door open for a future two-state peace agreement, such as halting settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and reversing Israeli policies aimed at de facto and de-jure annexation of parts of the West Bank.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomes tonight’s scheduled vote on Senator Bernie Sanders’ resolution under section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act requesting information on Israel’s human rights practices, and urges the Senate to adopt it.

The Hamas attacks on October 7th cost the lives of some 1,200 Israelis, saw over 240 men, women and children taken hostage, and left the nation in shock and mourning. Israel’s initial decision to retaliate militarily was justified and internationally endorsed, but we are now over three months removed from that horrible day. 

At this point, the continuation of the war endangers Israel’s national security interests, threatens to lead to a wider regional war, and has made Gaza utterly uninhabitable, plagued by death, hunger, and disease. The scope and duration of Israel’s response, and its lack of a “day after” strategy that would harness its military response to a clear political objective, has cost Israel dearly and caused shocking carnage and immeasurable suffering for Gazan civilians, most of whom have been displaced from communities now  reduced to rubble. The United Nations has said that hunger is widespread and the threat of starvation is  imminent in Gaza. The healthcare system has collapsed, and disease is spreading.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) commends Israel’s Supreme Court for striking down the so-called “reasonableness law” which bars the Court from challenging unreasonable government decisions. The law, passed by the Knesset last July, is a key component of the judicial reform advanced by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. 

Americans for Peace Now (APN) today sent a petition to President Biden urging his administration to consider conditioning the aid that the United States government provides to the state of Israel.

The petition is available here.