Thursday, February 25, 2021, 12:00 pm (ET)

MK Merav Michaeli

Knesset Member

Israeli citizens will go to the polls in a month to elect a new Knesset. It’s the fourth round in two years, but it’s not déjà vu. There are several new developments. One of them is Merav Michaeli’s fresh leadership at the Labor Party. As the newly elected chair of a party, Michaeli is working to revive it and remake it as a relevant, powerful force in Israeli politics.

What do these elections mean for Israel’s left? What alliances is Israel’s Zionist left willing to create to deny Benjamin Netanyahu another term in office? Can Israeli-Palestinian peace be on the electoral agenda when the elections are first and foremost a referendum on Netanyahu? What are the prospects of a stronger alliance between Israel’s Zionist left and the Arab minority?

Knesset Member Michaeli addressed these and other questions on our briefing call, in conversation with APN Board member Jo Ann Mort and APN President and CEO Hadar Susskind. The webinar, another in a series on the coming elections took place on Thursday, February 25th, at 12:00 noon (EST)

In her nine years in Israeli politics, following a successful career in television and print journalism, MK Michaeli has established herself as a clear, courageous progressive voice, focusing on peace, social justice, women’s rights, and LGBT rights. One of Israel’s leading feminists, Michaeli has been socially active since the late 1990s, when she established a lobbying organization to assist and promote sexual violence victim centers across Israel. As a Knesset member, she consistently speaks out against the occupation and against the Israeli government’s inaction in pursuit of an end to the occupation.

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Michael Sfard

International Human Rights Activist, Lawyer

The international Criminal Court (ICC) recently ruled that it has jurisdiction over the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip — territories under Israeli occupation since 1967. This opens the path for the ICC to launch formal investigations against war crimes suspects, whether Israelis or Palestinians.

What does the ICC’s decision mean for Israel? How is it going to conduct investigations? Are charges against the Israeli individual Israelis imminent? What is the nature of the judicial procedure? Is the threat of ICC proceedings likely to influencing the conduct of the IDF in the occupied territories, or the Israeli government’s West Bank settlement policy? Is it likely to encourage Israel to engage diplomatically with the Palestinians?

Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard addressed these and other questions in this webinar on Tuesday, February 23rd.

Sfard is an Israeli attorney who represents various Israeli and Palestinian human rights and peace organizations, movements, and activists, including Israel’s Peace Now movement. He is an expert in international humanitarian law and international human rights law. He was educated at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and at University College in London.

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