Friend of Israel,

Fifty-three years ago, Arab leaders gathered in Sudan to declare "no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, and no negotiations with [Israel]."

This afternoon, Sudan joined the UAE and Bahrain as the latest country to announce normalization with Israel, further building a new era of peace, prosperity and progress in the Middle East.

Today’s announcement is a major breakthrough in the old paradigm of boycotts and rejectionism, and is a byproduct of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.

Through decades of support and deepening ties, America and Israel have demonstrated that the security and viability of the Jewish state is not up for debate, and those seeking peace and prosperity benefit from a relationship with Israel.

The announcement comes as 93 senators and 372 representatives have cosponsored bipartisan resolutions supporting the historic peace agreements between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain. Senators Kamala Harris and Ted Cruz have joined as cosponsors of the Senate resolution since Betsy emailed you on Wednesday.

Peace between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan creates new opportunities for prosperity and progress for their citizens.

Meanwhile, Palestinian leaders this week have called normalization with Israel "shameful" and a "stab in the back." The Palestinians can create these same opportunities for their people by ending boycotts of American and Israeli officials and returning to direct peace talks.

Below are more key news items from this week.

All the best,

Brian Shankman
Director of Regional Affairs and Development

The 2020 elections are less than two weeks away. All 435 House seats, 35 Senate seats, and the executive branch are in the balance.

Turnover in Congress requires constant planning and work to build meaningful relationships with all viable candidates long before their election. Your support of AIPAC helps make that happen.

Iran is continuing its years-long efforts to undermine confidence in America’s electoral system.

On October 21, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence and the FBI Director revealed that Iran has been targeting American voters with threatening emails in recent weeks. More generally, Tehran continues to escalate its cyberwarfare and disinformation campaign against America in an effort to sow discord and unrest.

Following this announcement, the Treasury Department designated five Iranian entities for attempting to influence U.S. elections.

The U.S. must make clear to Iran that we will defend our democratic institutions and hold accountable any nation that seeks to undermine them.

The IDF exposed another cross-border terror tunnel this week built by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza. The tunnel ran beneath the border into Israel and was designed to carry out terrorist attacks against Israelis.

Israel holds Hamas responsible for the tunnel.

Hamas is an Iranian-backed Palestinian terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip and openly seeks the destruction of Israel. Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza have dug dozens of terror tunnels into Israeli communities—all at the expense of the people of Gaza.

This summer, the House passed $47.5 million for U.S.-Israel anti-tunnel technology cooperation.

This week, the Estonian government imposed sanctions on Hezbollah, and Guatemala designated all branches of the group as a terrorist organization.

This makes Estonia the fifth EU state to ban Hezbollah in its entirety, ending the artificial distinction between its so-called "military" and "political" wings, and Guatemala the eighth country this year.

The U.S. Treasury Department also sanctioned two members of Hezbollah’s Central Council on Thursday. The Central Council is responsible for identifying and electing the group’s highest decision-making body.

"Hezbollah’s senior leaders are responsible for creating and implementing the terrorist organization’s destabilizing and violent agenda against U.S. interests and those of our partners around the world," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Hezbollah is an Iranian-backed terrorist organization that is responsible for attacks around the world. The EU should follow Estonia's lead and ban Hezbollah from Europe. 

The U.S.-Israel partnership makes both countries stronger and safer.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz was in Washington this week to meet with Defense Secretary Mark Esper and other Pentagon officials. On Thursday, the two officials signed a joint declaration confirming America's strategic commitment to maintaining Israel's qualitative military edge in the Middle East.

On Wednesday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley spoke with Chief of the Israeli General Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi by phone.

"The U.S. and Israel enjoy a strong military-to-military relationship as key partners committed to peace and security in the Middle East region," a readout of the call said.