=======================

APN Legislative Round-Up

        for the period of

   January 21-31, 2012

=======================

 

1.  Bills, Resolutions & Letters

2.  Odds & Ends

 

Apologies for the belated and abbreviated Round-Up this week (and the absent Round-Up this coming Friday) -- both are due mainly to the visit to the U.S. of Jerusalem expert Danny Seidemann, who is in the U.S. discussing current developments/trends in East Jerusalem settlement construction, and the imminent threat they pose to the viability of the two-state solution.  His visit coincides with the publication of a new map presentation laying out these current developments/trends and projecting (conservatively) what the map of Jerusalem will look like at the end of 2013, assuming these trends continue unchecked.   That presentation can be viewed/downloaded here.

=======================

APN Legislative Round-Up

  for the week ending

   January 20, 2012

=======================

 

1.  Bills, Resolutions & Letters

2.  Odds & Ends

Today, Peace Now released a new report entitled "Torpedoing the Two State Solution -- The Strategy of the Netanyahu Government," detailing a number of trends in settlement expansion that directly, and it seems, deliberately, undermine the viability of the two-state solution.

The following is a timeline of major "Price Tag" attacks from the past 11 months (as reported by Israeli sources).  It documents a clear escalation in attacks, and the increasing spread of attacks inside the Green Line.  Italics indicate so-called "triggers" - events or developments that appear to be linked to subsequent attacks.  A recent Haaretz report noted: "According to the Shin Bet, the right-wing extremists no longer appear to need a 'trigger' to take action, while the targets of the violence are also widening..."

We will update this regularly.

The Netanyahu government isn't serious about stopping settler violence.

This is the only possible conclusion. While Netanyahu and his cohorts denounce Jewish extremists and promise to get tough, actions speak louder than words. And their action this week on outposts sent an unmistakable message to the settlers: not only won't you pay a price for terrorism, but you'll be rewarded.

Anyone who reads the Round-Up knows that Congress gets up to a lot of wacky stuff when it comes to the Middle East.  Below is a subjective list of the top ten outstanding examples of this.  Enjoy!

1. Bills, Resolutions and Letters

2. Consolidated Appropriations Passes (Israel, Egypt, Palestinians and more)

3. Iran Sanctions Bills Pass in House

4. Defense Authorization Passes (Israel, Iran and more)

5. Odds and Ends

Recent attacks on the IDF have led to an abrupt awakening in Israel and abroad. Suddenly people are realizing the danger posed to Israel by a generation of settlers who respect neither Israeli law, nor Israel's army, nor the Israeli state, and who are prepared to use violence against not only Palestinians (which has long been the case) but also against fellow Jews.

Partisans of the hardline "Israel, right or wrong" crowd are overflowing with righteous indignation over comments made in recent days by three Obama Administration officials (see here, here, and here, for example).  They are outraged over comments by Secretary of State Clinton - a staunch defender of Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship - in which she expressed concern about the degenerating status of women in Israel and the anti-democratic trend in the Israeli Knesset.  They are dismayed by a speech delivered by Secretary of Defense Panetta - a longtime central player at the CIA and the Pentagon in U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation - in which he urged Israel to "reach out and mend fences" with some countries in the region, and called on both sides to "get to the damn table."  And they are apoplectic over remarks by U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman - an American Jew whose father spent World War II in Europe hiding from the Nazis - suggesting that there is a linkage between Israeli policies and the growth of anti-Semitism.

How dare these officials say such things about Israel?  

Maybe the answer is this simple: they dare because they care.  And because they know that caring about Israel means speaking some hard truths - not to hurt Israel but to save it.

1. Bills, Resolutions and Letters
2. Iran, Israel in FY12 Defense Authorization Bill (S. 1867)
3. Odds and Ends

Due to a combination of visitors, travel, and holidays, the Round-Up is once again off schedule (and will not be coming out this Friday). We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause.