AIPAC’S FISCAL QUARTER ENDS JUNE 30
Your member support by this deadline will help provide the resources AIPAC needs to engage Congress on issues vital to Israel’s safety.
On Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to adopt the Israel Relations Normalization Act—a bill that supports and seeks to expand the recent peace and normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.
The bipartisan bill recognizes that these agreements have the potential to transform the region and enhance the prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
What it does:
Endorses the recent peace agreements between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.
Mandates the formulation of a U.S. government-wide strategy to strengthen and expand these agreements.
Combats anti-normalization efforts by Arab League countries to discourage and retaliate against those who engage in people-to-people relations with Israelis.
What’s next: While this is a critically important step forward in the legislative process, the bill must now be voted into law by both the House and the full Senate.
We must continue to remind America’s leaders that peace is only attainable if America’s support for Israel is ironclad, and when the Jewish state knows it can take risks for peace because its ally has its back.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to deny basic rights to Palestinians in an ongoing demonstration of its twisted priorities.
Rejecting vaccines from Israel: After Israel offered to send more than one million COVID vaccinations to the Palestinian Authority, the PA rejected the first shipment of over 90,000 vaccines.
The PA falsely claimed that the vaccines' June 30 expiration date made them impossible to use and implied that Israel was reneging on its offer to help Palestinians.
Israel subsequently used the same vaccines to inoculate more of its citizens.
PA priorities: Instead of vaccinating 90,000 Palestinians last weekend, the PA chose to smear Israel and prioritize Israel’s demonization over Palestinian lives.
Violent suppression of Palestinians: Prominent Palestinian activist and critic of the Palestinian Authority, Nizar Banat, died in police custody following a violent arrest.
Banat is one of several Palestinians who has been arrested and harassed by the PA in recent weeks for criticizing PA President Abbas.
American response: In a press release, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price expressed "serious concerns about Palestinian Authority restrictions on the exercise of freedom of expression by Palestinians and harassment of civil society activists and organizations."
The United States has called for an investigation into Banat's death.
Big picture: The PA's policies and decisions hurt the welfare of ordinary Palestinians and erode Israeli trust—making it much more difficult to achieve peace.
TheWall Street Journal's editorial board wrote about Iranian President Ebrahaim Raisi's farce election and long history of human rights abuses.
From the article:
"The Guardian Council, Iran’s election watchdog, has long barred candidates not to the Supreme Leader’s liking."
"Of the seven candidates approved to run, three dropped out shortly before the contest—paving the way for Mr. Raisi, who is typically described as a hard-liner or ultraconservative cleric."
"Mr. Raisi facilitated the extrajudicial execution of thousands of dissidents. He later called the killings 'one of the proud achievements of the system.' In 2009, during the Green Revolution after a stolen election, he served as deputy chief justice when peaceful protestors were prosecuted and sometimes given death sentences."
The big picture: The United States should recognize that Iran's elections are a sham and that the Supreme Leader remains in firm control of Iranian policy.
IDF Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi and other IDF officials visited Washington this week to meet with their American counterparts.
The officials attended a series of meetings with top security officials, including Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and others.
Kohavi said: "Our operational cooperation with the U.S. military has reached an unprecedented level and the issues agreed upon during my visit will help elevate our cooperation capabilities."
Big picture: America's partnership with Israel helps keep both countries safer, stronger and better prepared to overcome shared threats.
On June 25, 1996, Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists carried out the worst terrorist attack against the American military since the bombing of a Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983.
What happened: A Hezbollah suicide truck bomber attacked the Khobar Towers housing complex in Saudi Arabia.
The bombing killed 19 U.S. Air Force personnel and injured hundreds more.
In 1997, the United States designated Hezbollah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and in 2018, Hezbollah was also designated as a Top Transnational Organized Crime Threat.
Big picture: Today, Hezbollah remains the most powerful terrorist organization in the world, stronger than most national armies.
Pnina Tamano-Shata | Aliyah and Integration Minister
Pnina Tamano-Shata is one of nine female ministers in Israel's government – the most in Israel's history. She is the first Ethiopian-born minister and member of Knesset.
The mission of AIPAC is to encourage and persuade the U.S. government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutually beneficial relationship with our ally Israel.
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