April 10, 2024 - Americans for Peace Now (APN) strongly opposes House Resolution 1117 which claims to oppose efforts to “place one-sided pressure on Israel with respect to Gaza.”

House Republicans are again using straw-man arguments to make a show of support for the Netanyahu government. The Hamas attack on October 7 was horrific and there is and can be no rationale to defend it. And Israel is and was entitled to self-defense. Neither President Biden nor anyone in the administration has ever suggested otherwise.

The Biden Administration’s decision to abstain on the UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and the return of all hostages was both politically sensible and an expression of important American values. In the midst of a growing famine and with tens of thousands of civilians dead, the UN resolution was a reasonable attempt to restrain the Netanyahu government from continuing to pursue a war with no meaningful defined goals and no benefit to Israeli security.

APN’s President and CEO Hadar Susskind said: “House Republicans can continue to throw meaningless tantrums on behalf of their political ally, Prime Minister Netanyahu. Or they can observe that Biden Administration pressure has provided for the opening of the Erez crossing, the immediate transfer of more humanitarian aid and possibly a step toward the cessation of large-scale hostilities. I remind them that the goal of all people should be ending the war and moving toward a real peace. We suggest they work with their Democratic colleagues to do whatever it takes to bring this war to a close, and begin working on long-term political solutions that sideline Hamas and resolve the conflict.”

After 18 years at APN, our VP for Public Affairs Ori Nir is retiring. Born and raised in Jerusalem, before landing at APN Ori led a storied career as a journalist primarily focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He covered Palestinian affairs at Ha’aretz in the early days of the Intifada and through the implementation of the first phases of the Oslo Accords. As the Washington correspondent for both Ha’aretz and the Forward, he focused on US Mideast policy. Ori is widely known as a go-to expert on issues of Middle East peace and conflict, not only because of his vast knowledge and experience and his fluency in both Hebrew and Arabic, but because of his enormous sense of compassion and understanding for all involved.

Ori was an innovator and a storyteller at APN, bringing the organization into the podcast era with PeaceCast. His mellifluous voice and probing questions have made our podcast a must-not-miss week after week. His op-eds – appearing in numerous outlets including Ha'aretz and the New York Times– were filled not only with important information but also deeply personal stories. Those of you who traveled with Ori to Israel and Palestine over the years had the experience of learning from him every step of the way. While our communications and public affairs work will continue to grow and change, we will miss Ori deeply. He is one of those rare people you get to work with who is completely and utterly irreplaceable.

We’re sending Ori off b'hatzlacha, bil tawfiq, and good luck for the next stage of his journey.

By Madeleine Cereghino- Director of Government Relations

The tragic and avoidable killing of seven World Central Kitchen workers on Monday has underscored the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the significant obstacles faced by relief efforts due to the actions of the Israeli government. While the IDF and Prime Minister Netanyahu have offered apologies for the airstrikes, labeling them as mistakes made by commanders in the field, José Andrés (the founder of World Central Kitchen) has asserted that the relief workers were deliberately targeted by the Israeli military.

President Biden has issued his strongest condemnation of Israel's conduct since the start of the war, including calling Israel’s failure to safeguard civilians and aid workers "a major reason why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult” and saying that” Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians."

Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

1. Bills, Resolutions
2. Letters
3. Hearings & Markups
4. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

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.

March 25, 2024 - Americans for Peace Now (APN) strongly supports President Biden’s decision to allow passage of the United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The resolution demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, that would lead to a lasting and sustainable ceasefire. It also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

The US vetoed three earlier ceasefire resolutions and continues to provide Israel with military aid. Now, in the wake of Netanyahu’s cancellation of an Israeli delegation’s visit to Washington to discuss the invasion of Rafah, President Biden should be clear that the US will oppose any Rafah operations that compromise the safety of the more than one million civilians there. Additionally, we call upon the administration to follow the existing US law that conditions continuing military aid on the free flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza civilians.

APN’s President and CEO Hadar Susskind said: “Netanyahu can cancel his ministers' trips and throw tantrums, but refusing to engage with Israel’s only powerful ally will achieve nothing other than deepening its isolation. If Netanyahu moves forward with a Rafah operation without agreement with the US, he will demonstrate once again that he is prioritizing his own political survival over the future of the people of Israel. This war needs to come to an end. Until it does, President Biden should make sure that any US aid is used only in compliance with US law.”

Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin, a scholar and writer, is an international political and strategic consultant. She has advised and conducted research on nine national campaigns in Israel over the past twenty years, and has provided research and advising for elections, referendums, and civil society campaigns in fifteen different countries. She is the author of The Crooked Timber of Democracy in Israel. 

Recently, Shalom Achshav released their 2023 settlement report. Their findings were disturbing even by the standards of the actions of Netanyahu’s far-right extremist government.  Under the cover of the Gaza war, conditions in the West Bank have quietly but dramatically shifted for the worse. We have seen a record number of plans for new construction, minimal law enforcement against illegal settler activity, substantial budgets for expanding settlements and outposts, and, most significantly, almost unconditional political support from the government for settlers, even in cases involving violence against Palestinians.

To discuss these alarming updates, we spoke with someone on the front lines of observing and analyzing settlement activity.  Hagit Ofran is the co-director of Shalom Achshav’s Settlement Watch program, and is widely recognized as Israel’s foremost expert on Israeli settlements.