Fifty-four years ago this week, the unthinkable happened: Israel defeated Jordanian, Syrian, and Egyptian forces in the Six-Day War, tripling its geographic footprint in less than a week. For Jews, this was unimaginably good news: Jerusalem was won, the Western Wall was liberated, and the myriad of Biblical sites in the West Bank were open to Jewish visitors. As Jewish Israelis flocked to heritage sites long yearned-for, Palestinians continued to lose their own. The West Bank was now under Israeli military occupation, an occupation that has since come to feel indefinite.

It is easy to lose hope fighting to end an occupation that feels never-ending, but in the past days and weeks, as we have prepared to mark the anniversary of the Six-Day War, we have seen another seismic shift in the Israeli political sphere. After twelve consecutive (and fifteen total) years as Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be on his way out of office.

Washington, DC – Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomes the announcement of a new governing coalition in Israel.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) congratulates Isaac Herzog, who was elected today to become Israel's 11th president, and urges him to use his position to advance the cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace.

The American organization Musicians for the Greater Good held a virtual peace concert on May 30th to honor the work of Israel's Peace Now movement and its US sister organization, Americans for Peace Now.

Claire Davidson Miller
Strategic Communications and Development Associate

Claire Davidson Miller (she/her) joined Americans for Peace Now in the spring of 2021 after graduating from Brown University.  At Brown, Claire studied Middle East Studies and Judaic Studies and was active in the Jewish community and progressive Israel activism.  Before coming to APN, Claire worked with J Street, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and Reclaim Childhood.  She speaks Hebrew, Arabic, and French. 

Karen Paul
Director of Development

Karen brings over 30 years of fundraising experience to APN, including over 15 years at New Israel Fund as the Washington Regional Director, where she led all local events, programming and fundraising, as well as NIF’s study tour program. Karen’s background includes work with NARAL Pro-Choice America, Dance Theatre of Harlem, DC Vote, and dozens of organizations to whom she has offered development support through her fundraising consulting practice. Most recently, Karen was Executive Director of the Tikkun Olam Women’s Foundation, where she was dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls in the DC region and in Israel.

Karen and her late husband, Jonathan Stern, received the Heschel Visionary Award from Jews United for Justice in 2016 for their dedication to telling the story of his terminal illness with compassion and honesty in the Washington Post and other outlets. Currently, she is working on a memoir about her experience with grief and trauma as a caretaker for a spouse with terminal brain cancer.

Karen sits on the Advisory Council of xMinds and is a Trustee of CaringMatters, both in Montgomery County, MD, and serves on the International Council of New Israel Fund. Karen graduated from Union College, and is currently pursuing an MFA in creative non-fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Madeleine Cereghino
Director of Government Relations

Madeleine Cereghino (she/her) joined Americans for Peace Now in the spring of 2021 after seven years educating lawmakers on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at J Street. An experienced government affairs strategist, Madeleine credits a Birthright trip to Israel for inspiring her to shift her professional focus to anti-occupation work.

Although she resides in Washington, D.C. with her husband, Ben, and dog Apollo, Madeleine will forever be loyal to Bay Area sports. Madeleine is a graduate of Whittier College.

Rob McCulloch
Chief Financial Officer

Rob joined APN in March of 2005.  He oversees accounting, human resources, and technology.  He is a prominent member of APN’s Finance Committee.  He is responsible for APN’s IRS form 990.

He is a graduate of Babson College with degrees in accounting, finance, and quantitative methods.  Prior to APN Rob spent the first 20+ years of his career working in large multinational corporations, including Fortune 500 companies, in various accounting management positions.  He managed cost reduction programs at multiple companies saving millions of dollars.

He is a Past President of the Boston Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (500 members).  He is a former member of Rotary International and was a Paul Harris Fellow award winner.  He has taken Dale Carnegie Leadership training for managers.

10Ori Nir
Vice President for Public Affairs

Ori Nir (he/him) joined Americans for Peace Now following a 24-year career in journalism, which was mainly focused on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Ori covered Palestinian affairs for Ha'aretz Daily, Israel's leading newspaper (1986-1990; 1994-1996) during the early years of the first intifada and through the implementation of the first phases of the Oslo Accords. Later, he covered Israel's Arab minority for Ha'aretz, (2000 to July 2002). Ori also covered the diplomatic efforts to advance Arab-Israeli peace. As the Washington correspondent of Ha'aretz (1990-1994) and of The Forward, America's largest and most influential independent national Jewish weekly newspaper, he focused on US Mideast policy. Ori earned a Master's degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where he also taught journalism (1997-2000). His Bachelor's degree in Middle Eastern history and Arabic literature is from Jerusalem's Hebrew University. Ori is fluent in Hebrew and Arabic. 

Hadar Susskind
President and CEO

Hadar Susskind is widely acknowledged as one of the Jewish community’s leading progressive advocacy voices and brings more than twenty years of experience working in Washington DC on both foreign and domestic policy. In that role he has built strong relationships with members of Congress, administration officials, and progressive partners and allies from across the spectrum of American political life.

Hadar most recently served as Senior Vice President of Government Relations for the Council on Foundations, and prior to that as the Director of Bend the Arc Jewish Action and Bend the Arc Jewish Action PAC. Before joining Bend the Arc, Hadar was Vice President of the Tides Foundation. Hadar also served as Vice President for Policy and Strategy at J Street and Vice President and Washington Director for the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA). Previously, Hadar held positions at a number of other Jewish organizations including the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) and the Israel Policy Forum.

Hadar currently serves on the boards of Ameinu and the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center. He has also served on the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Initiatives Task Force on the Environment, as well as the Board of Directors of the Coalition on Human Needs, the Public Policy Committee of Independent Sector and the Leadership Council of Nonprofit VOTE.

Hadar is a graduate of the University of Maryland and holds the rank of Sergeant First Class in the Israel Defense Forces.