The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) has conducted its monthly ‘Israeli Voice Index.’ This index tells us a lot about Israeli opinion on COVID-19. There were 830 respondents to the survey and the questions were conducted in a mixture of Arabic and Hebrew. The respondents are a representative cross-section of Israeli society in terms of age, gender and ethnicity.

One interesting result from this investigation is that when asked how they would rank the government’s performance in handling the pandemic medically on a scale of 1 (very poor) to 10 (excellent), 29% of respondents rated it 10/10:

Washington, DC -- Americans for Peace Now (APN) is thrilled to announce that its Board of Directors has appointed Hadar Susskind as APN’s new President and CEO, effective May 15th.

Hadar will be responsible for leading the organization, charting new paths for it at a time of dire challenges for APN’s mission.

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Contact: Ori Nir |  onir@peacenow.org | 202-908-1317
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APN’s mission is to educate and persuade the American public and its leadership to support and adopt policies that will lead to comprehensive, durable, Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab peace, based on a two-state solution. Americans for Peace Now is the U.S. sister-organization of Israel’s peace movement Peace Now (Shalom Achshav).

APN’s Chair of the Board of Directors James Klutznick said:

“After a thorough and rigorous search process, APN’s Board of Directors is delighted that Hadar has agreed to join Americans for Peace Now as its President and CEO. Hadar has the experience, expertise and commitment to APN’s mission to further expand our organization’s reach and influence. He joins us as we face the most challenging threat posed to date to the two-state solution: annexation. The resolution of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict on the basis of two sovereign and independent states, for two peoples, living side by side in peace and security, is in grave jeopardy. We feel fortunate to have attracted someone of Hadar’s caliber, track record and leadership abilities at this crucial time, and I look forward to working with him.”

Hadar comes to APN after a rich, diverse career in Washington DC, advocating for peace, fighting for democracy, and championing social justice. Among other positions he has held, Hadar was Senior Vice President of Government Relations at the Council on Foundations, Director of Bend the Arc Jewish Action, Vice President of Policy and Strategy at J Street, and Vice President and Washington Director at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. He serves on the Board of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center and on the Board of the Labor Zionist organization Ameinu.

Born in Israel, Hadar grew up in the United States and volunteered to serve as a combat soldier in the Israel Defense Force. He lives in Maryland with his wife and two children.

Hadar Susskind said:

"I am honored to be taking up the mantle of leadership of Americans for Peace Now, an organization I have always closely followed and deeply valued. But it is not an easy time to do so. This is a moment when the entire world is at a crossroads. Governments, organizations and individuals must decide what sort of future we envision and what choices we will make to get us there. Like APN, I will always choose peace and I will always choose justice."

APN’s Board extends its deep gratitude to Aviva Meyer, the organization’s Vice Chair, for volunteering to serve as its acting CEO for these past two years. Aviva’s commitment and leadership, combined with her executive experience and skills, were invaluable in managing APN following the retirement of its former CEO, Debra DeLee.

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.

The recent slate of PeaceCast podcasts include recordings of APN's webinar series on the Trump to Biden transition from Israeli, Palestinian, American, and European perspectives. 

BROWSE and LISTEN

From Aviva Meyer, APN Vice Chair, who has served as interim CEO:

1. Bills, Resolutions, and Letters
2. Hearings
3. On the Record

Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

LISTEN:

The European Union and its members have been following with great trepidation the Israeli government’s statements and plans to annex parts of the West Bank. The EU is strongly committed to the two-state solution, and n the past has warned that it will not recognize Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank and will “act accordingly” if Israel extends its sovereignty to the West Bank.

John Lyndon, the Executive Director of the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP), who is headquartered in Paris, provides excellent information and insight to better understand Europe’s concerns and possible actions about the prospects of West Bank annexation

John Lyndon is the executive director of ALLMEP, an organization that secures and scales up funding to expand trust-building interactions between Palestinians and Israelis.

Based in Paris, France, John was ALLMEP’s first European Director, founding its new office in Paris in 2018. He closely monitors the policy of the European Union and its member states – as well as the policy of other European countries – on Israeli-Palestinian affairs.

A regular contributor and commentator on events in the Middle East, his writing has featured in numerous international publications, and he is a frequent analyst on television and radio shows on this topic. 

Each country has its own unique challenges to deal with when it comes to combating the coronavirus due to the physical, social and economic make-up of the state. Therefore, comparing countries is never a like-for-like scenario but it can be useful in determining what actions are useful and harmful in the response. The UAE, Japan and Austria all have a similar number of recorded cases to Israel (16,289 cases), so what can be learned from them as Israel begins to reopen?

Published May 4

The most serious setback to peace in the Middle East has taken place under the cloud of the coronavirus and the internal Israeli political scene. A chance, however, still exists for a unified Arab coalition with action by American Jews to create a firewall that will help preserve a chance for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

As part of the deal for the emergency government between the Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival and former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, an Israeli government-in-the-making is on the record as supporting unilateral annexation of large swaths of the West Bank.

Israel appears to be set on a dangerous anti-peace act that will destroy the very fragile and quickly lapsing chance for a Palestinian-Israeli two-state peace deal.