Americans for Peace Now (APN) today sent a letter to President Biden signed by 163 Jewish leaders who care about Israel’s future, calling on the President to take concrete action to safeguard Israeli democracy.

The letter is unique in going past generic statements and calling for specific actions that the President can take to assert his concern about the Israeli government damaging its shared values with the United States. By doing so, the letter says, Biden would “protect Israel's future and its relationship with the United States.”

APN urged prominent American Jewish leaders to endorse the letter, and within days gathered an impressive group of signers. 

Alex Soros, Chair, Open Society Foundations, said: “Americans who care about Israel are horrified to see the government assault on the state’s democratic norms and institutions.  President Biden’s concerns went unheeded. The time has come to take action to protect Israel's democracy and America’s interests in the region.”

Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers President and APN Board of Directors member said: "President Biden stands for democracy at home and around the world. Israel needs him now, to embrace all who are fighting to protect and deepen democracy at such a critical time." 

Hadar Susskind, Americans for Peace Now’s President and CEO, said: “We sent this letter because Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear that he will not heed President Biden’s words, so it is time to move to actions. We are gratified to see that so many Jewish leaders joined us in signing this letter and we hope that President Biden will follow our advice.”

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.

Six people were injured in a shooting attack by a Palestinian gunman today in Maale Adumim, a large West Bank settlement east of Jerusalem. Americans for Peace Now (APN) strongly condemns this terrorist attack and wishes full recovery to the people who were hurt.

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.

1.Bills, Resolutions & Letters
2. Members of Congress on Israel’s Judicial “Reform”
3. Thou Shalt Not Call Israel “Racist” – continued
4. Hearings, Markups & Events
5. Media & Reports
6. Members on the Record (Israel/Palestine)
7. Members on the Record (Iran & other Mideast countries)

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Americans for Peace Now (APN) condemns today’s Knesset vote on the so-called “reasonableness law” which bars Israel’s Supreme Court from challenging unreasonable laws and executive measures. This vote is, according to the very members who supported it, only the first step towards more unreasonable, anti-democratic legislation by the government, including measures to move forward with the annexation of the West Bank and perpetuate the occupation.

APN calls on the Biden administration to move past declarations of concern and respond by iterating the concrete steps it will take in response to the actions of the Netanyahu government. APN also urges fellow American Jewish organizations to speak out loudly and clearly against  the anti-democratic trajectory of Israel under Netanyahu’s government of nationalistic zealots.

APN strongly supports the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have been demonstrating for over six months against the government and its anti-democratic policies and practices. We stand in solidarity with them and encourage them to further escalate their protest. By embarking on its anti-democratic “legal reform” today, the governing coalition underscored the protesters’ assertion that the government, while legally elected, is illegitimate and should be treated as such.  

We hope that some members of the ruling government coalition would appreciate and understand what the demonstrators are concerned about, change course, and work to protect the rights of all citizens of Israel - Jewish and non-Jewish alike. We also encourage Israelis to look beyond specific legislation to push for creating a constitution that would protect all Israelis and avoid the fiasco that Israel has been experiencing in the past few months.

Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived.

1.Bills, Resolutions & Letters
2. Israeli President on the Hill
3. Thou Shalt Not Call Israel “Racist”!
4. Hearings & Events
5. Media & Reports
6. Members on the Record (Israel/Palestine)
7. Members on the Record (Iran & other Mideast countries)