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.
For too long politicians on both sides of the aisle have paid lip service to two-states instead of implementing policies that would actually bring us closer to a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In the wake of the violent escalation in Gaza, accelerating demolitions and evictions and settlement construction, and disastrous Trump administration policies that emboldened Israel to the brink of annexing Area C, bold US action is well overdue.
That is why it is vital that Members of Congress co-sponsor the Two-State Solution Act. This comprehensive piece of legislation re-defines the United States’ role as a catalyst for Israeli-Palestinian peace by implementing tangible steps that would accelerate progress toward peace and discourage steps that push it further out of reach.
Take action below to urge your Member of Congress to support this historic legislation.
Read the full text of the bill here.
Americans for Peace Now’s President and CEO Hadar Susskind issued the following statement in support of new Two-State Solution legislation:
“Americans for Peace Now applauds the introduction of the Two-State Solution Act by Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI) and twenty-three of his House colleagues.
Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomes this Wednesday’s Senate confirmation hearing of Thomas Nides as US Ambassador to Israel and urges the Senate – both in committee and on the floor - to confirm his nomination.
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived.
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.
By: Ori Nir
Every now and then, in the ugly routine of Israel’s 54-year occupation of the West Bank, comes a moment of clarity, an incident that underscores the perverse dynamic in Israeli-Palestinian relations which this prolonged travesty has spawned. Such was the event that started when the first of six Palestinian prisoners emerged from a narrow hole in the ground outside Israel’s top security prison.
So much of what happened during the week that followed can serve as a teachable moment regarding the state of affairs between two communities locked in a mutual chokehold.
Today, Americans for Peace Now sent letters to the Arizona State Treasurer, Kimberly Yee, and to Shoaib Khan, the Acting Director of the New Jersey Department of the Treasury Investment Division objecting to their decisions to divest their states’ funds from Ben & Jerry’s parent company Unilever.
September 17, 2021
Shoaib Khan
Acting Director, Investment Division
State of New Jersey Department of the Treasury P.O. Box 290
Trenton, New Jersey 08625
Dear Mr. Khan:
I am writing to voice Americans for Peace Now’s strong opposition to the decision to divest New Jersey State pension fund assets from Unilever PLC.
As a pro-Israel American Jewish organization that cares deeply about Israel’s future, we object because this step undermines efforts to enable Israel to live in peace and to maintain its character as a democracy and a Jewish state.
P.L. 2016, c.24 (N.J.S.A. 52:18A-89.13) and the decision to uphold this law undermines efforts to achieve a peaceful and just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. By applying the same standard of treatment to the territories captured in 1967 as it does the state of Israel, this law undermines the distinction between the two, contributing to the erasure of the Green Line and leading Israel down the path to apartheid.
The United States does not recognize the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as part of the state of Israel. For a future two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and, indeed, for the future of Israel as a democracy and a Jewish state, it is vital that the distinction between sovereign Israel and the settlements be maintained.
The law is a clear attempt to conflate Israeli settlements with Israel and is a divergence from longstanding bipartisan US foreign policy. I urge you to reconsider your decision to divest public pension funds from Unilever PLC.
Sincerely,
Hadar Susskind
President and CEO Americans for Peace Now
September 17, 2021
The Honorable Kimberly Yee State Treasurer
Office of the Treasurer
1700 W. Washington Phoenix, Arizona 85007
Dear Ms. Yee:
I am writing to voice Americans for Peace Now’s strong opposition to the decision to divest Arizona State public funds from Unilever PLC.
As a pro-Israel American Jewish organization that cares deeply about Israel’s future, we object because this step undermines efforts to enable Israel to live in peace and to maintain its character as a democracy and a Jewish state. Additionally, your characterization of Ben & Jerry’s action as “antisemitic” hinders the Jewish community’s fight against antisemitism.
You have stated publicly that your decision to divest is due to Ben & Jerry’s boycott of Israel, yet both Ben & Jerry’s and its parent company Unilever have stated that their policy is limited to territory that is under Israeli military occupation and subject to a political dispute with the Palestinians. In your direct communication with Unilever PLC, it’s clear, despite the omission from your public statements, that you are aware of the distinction between Israel and the territory it controls in your citation of the statute that the policy violates.
Arizona statutes §35-393 define boycotts to include “territories controlled by Israel.” This specific inclusion reflects some understanding of the difference between the state of Israel and the territories it captured in 1967 to which it has not extended its sovereignty, despite the laws’ efforts to conflate the two.
The United States does not recognize the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as part of the state of Israel. For a future two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and, indeed, for the future of Israel as a democracy and a Jewish state, it is vital that the distinction between sovereign Israel and the settlements be maintained.
The impact of the law itself and your public representation of the decision to divest are clear attempts to conflate Israeli settlements with Israel and is a divergence from longstanding bipartisan US foreign policy.
You have also characterized Ben & Jerry’s boycott of West Bank settlements as antisemitic. To be clear, choosing to participate in boycotts as an act of political protest is neither anti-Israel nor antisemitic. Americans for Peace Now is deeply concerned with rising antisemitism in the United States and abroad. It is important that antisemitism across the political spectrum be confronted wherever and whenever it occurs. Abuse of the term in an effort to win political battles cheapens and undermines the fight against antisemitism.
I urge you to reconsider your decision to divest public funds from Unilever PLC and to be more circumspect in your characterization of Israeli West Bank settlements and in your future use of the term “antisemitic.”
Sincerely,
Hadar Susskind
President and CEO Americans for Peace Now