Check out these excerpts featuring Debra Shushan, APN Director of Policy and Government Relations, on CGTN's "The Heat" from August 19, 2019, on the topic: "Israel Denies Entry to Two Members of US Congress."
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.
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The much-touted shared values between the U.S. and Israel no longer seem to include liberal protections for free speech.
By Debra Shushan, director of policy and government relations at Americans for Peace Now
The U.S.-Israel relationship suffered a profound setback Thursday. Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri confirmed that Israel would bar two members of Congress, Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, from entering Israel because of their support for the BDS movement, which calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions on Israel.
Thursday’s decision to deny Tlaib and Omar entrance to Israel reversed the earlier position expressed by Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer, who in July said that “Out of respect for the U.S. Congress and the great alliance between Israel and America, we would not deny entry to any member of Congress into Israel.”
With Netanyahu surpassing the country’s founding prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, as Israel’s longest-serving leader, Israel’s democracy is in a state of perilous decline.
The policy Dermer articulated should be expected of a U.S. ally that is also the top recipient of U.S. foreign aid ($38 billion in security assistance over 10 years). Overturning that policy can only be interpreted as a sign of disrespect for the U.S. representatives democratically elected by American voters. Worse yet, with President Donald Trump pushing the change, it also demonstrates the disrespect for democratic institutions both country’s leaders are increasingly embracing — and their willingness to turn the U.S.-Israel relationship into a political football to advance their own interests.
Americans for Peace Now (APN) strongly condemns the decision of Israel's government to deny two US members of Congress entry to Israel. APN calls on the government of Israel to reverse its decision.
For the government of Israel to deny entry to these two US elected officials is outrageous and self-defeating for several reasons:
Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MN) and Ilhan Omar (D_MI) are democratically elected members of the US Congress, which represents the people of the United States, and is Israel's staunchest supporting institution, bar none. Snubbing them is not only an affront to these two politicians but a blow to the institution and to Israel's relations with the American people.
Lois and I have agreed to be honored by Americans for Peace Now (APN) because it gives us the opportunity to pay tribute to its critically important work and to Shalom Achshav (Peace Now), its Israeli sister organization.
Go HERE for more information and to purchase
event tickets and/or donate for a tribute.
For Lois and me, APN and Shalom Achshav have remained a voice of reason, even in the midst of despair. They have never acquiesced in their consistent pursuit of a just peace in the Middle East. Their work is a beacon of hope and has served as a bridge between people on both sides of the conflict who remain committed to a negotiated settlement.
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.
The European Union issued the following statement on August 6th, 2019
Statement by EU Spokesperson on latest settlements approved by Israeli authorities
Bruxelles, 06/08/2019
Israeli authorities have approved the advancement of well over 2.000 housing units in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. The European Union's position on Israeli settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territory is clear and remains unchanged: all settlement activity is illegal under international law and it erodes the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace.
In the face of the Trump administration's apparent abandonment of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Americans for Peace Now (APN) urges Congress and presidential candidates to commit to supporting two states, and to reject Trump's departure from this long-held principal US policy objective.
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.