From Americans for Peace Now <apndc@peacenow.org>
Subject APN Update - Briefing call at 12 (Eastern), catch-up with Alpher, annexation again, and more
Date March 31, 2020 3:01 PM
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Americans for Peace Now: March 31, 2020

QUOTE

"We believe that you have an historical obligation to protect the prospect of peace and to preserve Israel as a Jewish and democratic state - not to be a signatory on its destruction."

Peace Now, together with several other peace organizations,, in a letter [ [link removed] ] urging Blue and White's Benny Gantz and Labor's Amir Peretz to veto annexation as a government policy, and to not join a government that vows to annex parts of the Wet Bank.

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Issue Briefs

Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher [ [link removed] ]

Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

March 30, 2020, - A Unity Government that Serves Beyond Corona Could Yet Try to Deliver the Trump Deal of the Century [ [link removed] ]

Q. As of Monday, March 30, a portion of the Blue-White party and of Labor appears to be on its way to joining a "unity" government under Netanyahu. What happened?

A. The convoluted contortions of last week's crisis of Israeli governance and the rule of law are almost too complicated to follow...

Q. Does all this make any sense?

A. .Gantz has backtracked on his two main electoral promises. He tried to form a coalition with the Joint Arab List, which he had pledged to the right not to do, and now he is joining a government under Netanyahu...

Q. Let's assume some sort of unity government in which Gantz, Ashkenazi and about 15 additional Blue-White members of Knesset (some still in the process of switching allegiance between Gantz and Lapid) serve as a minority faction but enjoy agreed parity with Netanyahu's bloc in ministerial strength and many aspects of decision-making. What awaits them beyond shared success in overcoming covid-19 and implementing a plan to revive the economy?

A. Knowing Netanyahu, it's safe to assume that the corona era will seem to Gantz like a honeymoon compared to what comes next...

Q. Is there a strategic issue that could be divisive--one that could prove a deal-breaker for Gantz and Ashkenazi in their ministerial positions of defense and foreign affairs?

A. Yes. Unilateral annexation...

Q. Hold on now. Surely it is also possible that after corona, the stars will not align for Netanyahu, Trump and unilateral annexation...

A. Indeed, here we encounter, equally at the speculative level, the possible strategic impact for Israel of the corona experience--at home, regionally and globally...

Q. While you're going from disaster to disaster, are there any negative spinoffs of the virus experience for Israel that would not be directly related to unilateral annexation?

A. Israel's think tanks are busy drawing up lists...

Q. Bottom line?

A. One corona lesson is clear, not just to Israel but especially to Israel. It was not prepared for a crisis of this nature...

Read More [ [link removed] ]

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REMINDER - TODAY at 12 Noon (Eastern) / 9 am (Pacific)

Briefing Call with Bradley Burston: "As Coronavirus spreads in Israel, who's really running the country?"

Dial-in Number: 951-797-1058; Participant Access Code: 147414

To send questions in advance, please send an email Tuesday morning to Ori Nir at onir@peacenow.org [ mailto:onir@peacenow.org ].

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Haaretz columnist Bradley Burston, a native of Los Angeles, moved to Israel in 1976. He took part in establishing Kibbutz Gezer, and served in the IDF as a combat medic, before turning to journalism. He covered the first Palestinian uprising as Gaza correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, and was the paper's military correspondent in the 1991 Gulf War. In the mid-1990s he covered Israeli-Arab peace talks for Reuters. In 2006, he received the Eliav-Sartawi Award for Mideast Journalism, presented at the United Nations.
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APN Audio

PeaceCast Episode #117: "COVID-19 and Israeli-Palestinian Rapprochement"

Featuring: Noa Shusterman, Israel Institute for National Security Studies (INSS)

Listen > [ [link removed] ]

Subscribe to APN's PeaceCast at iTunes [ [link removed] ] or Google Play [ [link removed] ]

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APN Resource page for COVID-19 related items

Find links to APN statements, PeaceCast podcast episodes, Issue Briefs and more.

Go HERE [ [link removed] ]

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APN Joins Peace Now's call: No to Annexation as Israeli Government Policy

Reports in the Israeli media today indicate that Prime Minister Netanyahu is demanding that any party joining his coalition government endorse Annexing parts of the West Bank as a policy principle.

Shalom Achshav – together with other peace organizations – urged Blue and White's Benny Gantz and Labor Party's Amir Peretz to veto annexation as a government policy, and to not join a government that vows to annex parts of the Wet Bank.

Read More [ [link removed] ]

Go HERE [ [link removed]
] for the statement from Peace Now and the other groups.

Go HERE [ [link removed] ] to see the letter sent to Benny Gantz.

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Government Relations

Government Relations [ [link removed] ]

APN Legislative Round-Up: March 27, 2020 [ [link removed] ]

Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace [ [link removed] ] in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived
* Bills, Resolutions, and Letters
* Hearings
* On the Record

Read More [ [link removed] ]

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