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Friend of Israel,
Yesterday,
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331 representatives —over 75% of Congress—signed an important bipartisan letter strongly supporting full funding of security assistance to Israel without political restrictions.
Why it matters: Full U.S. security assistance to Israel helps ensure the Jewish state can defend itself against evolving threats and advance American interests.
Through AIPAC: Year over year, you help lobby Congress to support U.S. security assistance and oppose any new cuts or restrictions.
From the letter: "Reducing funding or adding conditions on security assistance would be detrimental to Israel’s ability to defend itself against all threats."
But our work continues as some in Congress are pushing to add political restrictions on aid to Israel.
Last week, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN)
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introduced a new bill that would restrict aid to Israel, undermine U.S. interests and make peace less likely.
The way forward: Congress must reject Rep. McCollum's attempt to reverse this long-standing bipartisan policy.
Take action:
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Thank your representative for signing the Deutch-McCaul letter and urge them to oppose Rep. McCollum's bill.
Below are more key news items from the week.
Brian Shankman
Director of Regional Affairs and Development
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Biden, Netanyahu, Other World Leaders Meet for a Virtual Summit on Climate
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Yesterday marked the first day of President Biden’s Leaders Summit on Climate—a virtual conference that brought President Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and other world leaders together to discuss emerging 21st century challenges, including clean energy and climate change.
Why it matters: Israel is a world leader in climate change solutions—and many Israeli climate technologies are in high demand across the world.
- Biden invited officials whose countries are “demonstrating strong climate leadership, are especially vulnerable to climate impacts, or are charting innovative pathways to a net-zero economy.”
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Go deeper: The United States and Israel are both better positioned to address 21st-century challenges when they work together.
Recent congressional action: In 2020 alone, Congress provided $8 million for U.S.-Israel cooperation to promote cutting-edge innovation in energy, water and international sustainability—critical funding that will help create new technologies and improve our environment.
The way forward: Congress and the administration should continue to look for ways to expand U.S.-Israel cooperation to address 21st century challenges, such as climate change and clean energy.
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Share an AIPAC Facebook post.
New Bipartisan Bill to Advance U.S.-Israel Cyber Cooperation
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A bipartisan group of lawmakers in both the House and the Senate introduced a new bill to strengthen U.S.-Israel cybersecurity cooperation and help both countries better confront the growing threat of advanced cyberattacks.
- What it does: The bill would authorize $30 million over five years for a joint U.S.-Israel grant program to promote increased cyber innovation.
- This effort is being led by Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Susan Collins (R-ME), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Todd Young (R-IN) in the Senate and Reps. Jim Langevin (D-RI) and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) in the House.
Why it matters: Israel is a world leader in cyber technology. U.S.-Israel cooperation helps secure America’s critical infrastructure from cyberattacks.
- Particularly amid heightened competition between the U.S. and China, this program would leverage Israel’s advanced capabilities and strengthen the U.S.-Israel partnership for the benefit of both countries.The way forward: America and Israel benefit greatly from U.S.-Israel cyber cooperation. Congress should adopt this bipartisan bill and continue to advance efforts to increase U.S.-Israel collaboration on cyber.
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HOW YOU CAN HELP
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It is through the generosity of our members that AIPAC works to help make Israel more secure by ensuring a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.
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SUPPORT AIPAC TODAY
Palestinian Authority Caught Hacking Hundreds of Cellphones
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Facebook uncovered that hackers working for Palestinian President Abbas targeted Palestinian reporters, human rights activists and political opponents.
The social networking giant has now warned as many as 800 individuals that they were targeted by the Palestinian Android malware.
Why it matters: Abbas' Palestinian Authority (PA) is rife with corruption and systematically suppresses domestic criticism as well as those who attempt to exercise other democratic and pluralistic values.
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The incident comes months ahead of the PA's first parliamentary election in 15 years.
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Go Deeper: On Wednesday, it was reported that President Abbas is seriously considering postponing the elections, currently scheduled for May 22.
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Share an AIPAC Facebook post.
Important Developments on Iran
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This week, there were three important news items on Iran.
1. Electrical power and uranium enrichment activities have reportedly been
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restored at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, following a recent explosion there.
- Why it matters: Iran would like to portray the sabotage as ineffective to gain the upper hand in nuclear negotiations in Vienna and to deter future sabotage efforts. Iran's claims should be viewed skeptically until confirmed by international inspectors.
On Monday, the
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International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) began talks with Iran aimed at obtaining explanations from Tehran on the origin of uranium traces found at undeclared locations.
- Why it matters: The barred particles indicate violations of Iran's Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) commitments. And while the activity pre-dates the JCPOA, the location of the equipment and material from the sites is unknown and could implicate current, relevant activity at alternate sites in Iran.
The Biden administration has reportedly
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signaled its openness to easing oil and financial sanctions against Iran, in a significant move to meet Iranian demands in nuclear talks.
- Context: In the last few weeks, Iran has increased its nuclear escalation by beginning to enrich uranium to 60-percent purity. This is a major nuclear escalation, given that 60-percent enriched uranium has no civilian purposes.
The way forward: While seeking a diplomatic path, the Biden administration must not succumb to Iran's nuclear extortion.
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Read an AIPAC memo.
Innovation Update — April 2021
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Israel is a strategic ally working with the United States to solve critical 21st century challenges.
AIPAC distributed Innovation Update to congressional offices this week. This month's edition features:
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A closer look at Israel’s innovation contributions to the world over the past year.
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The announcement of the winner of the U.S. Department of Energy and Israel’s Ministry of Energy's $6 million grant for cybersecurity and energy infrastructure projects.
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A new partnership between the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) to establish the Institute for Future Technologies in New Jersey.
Peace, Prosperity and ProgressIt's
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#ANewEra for Israeli-Arab relations.
Israeli-Arab cooperation continued to expand this week.
- On Monday, Sudan
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formally annulled its 1958 Israel boycott law, in a historic moment for Sudanese-Israel normalization efforts.
- On Thursday, the Israeli and Moroccan ambassadors to the U.N.
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co-chaired a virtual meeting on food security and agriculture innovation.
- This week, Reps. Schneider, Wagner, Garcia, Meijer, Meeks and McCaul introduced
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bipartisan legislation to build upon the Abraham Accords, asserting that these new Israeli-Arab partnerships promote vital U.S. national interests.
- Israel and the UAE signed an
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agreement to promote cooperation in health, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
- Israel and Bahrain reached the world’s first bilateral agreement for
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mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccine passports for quarantine-free travel between two countries.
- During the Iniochos 2021
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air defense exercise this week, Israeli and Emirati fighter pilots trained side by side.
- In celebration of Earth Day and the environmental cooperation between Israel and the UAE, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations and the United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the United States
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joined together to plant an olive tree this week.
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The mission of AIPAC is to strengthen and expand the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways that enhance the security of the United States and Israel.
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