Churches for Middle East Peace
Netanyahu and Gantz

Israeli Election Yields Close Results

A look at Netanyahu’s campaign promise to annex the West Bank, the results of the Israeli election, and more news in this week’s bulletin. 

Image: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and his chief rival Benny Gantz, right (Agence France-Presse/Getty Images).
 

 
Netanyahu speaks to supporters

Israel Election Live Updates: As Gantz Concedes, Netanyahu Set for Victory
The New York Times

The Israeli election for Prime Minister has been an unexpectedly close race, as current PM Netanyahu runs for his fifth consecutive term. The election is largely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu, who has come under increasing scrutiny due to personal scandals.

 Image: Netanyahu talking to supporters on election night (Amir Levy/Getty Images).
 

 
PM Netanyahu

Netanyahu Vows to Annex West Bank Settlements if Re-Elected
The Washington Post

“Netanyahu has promoted Jewish settlement expansion in his four terms as prime minister, but until now refrained from presenting a detailed vision for the West Bank, seen by the Palestinians as the heartland of a future state. An Israeli annexation of large parts of the West Bank is bound to snuff out any last flicker of hope for an Israeli-Palestinian deal on the terms of a Palestinian state on lands Israel captured in 1967.”

Image: PM Netanyahu (Ronen Zvulun/Reuters).
 

 
President Trump and PM Netanyahu

How the Battle Over Israel and Anti-Semitism Is Fracturing American Politics
The New York Times

“In the past several months, a fierce debate over American support for Israel has periodically dominated the news cycle and overshadowed the Democrats’ policy making agenda... While Democrats have been unified in opposing anti-Semitism, they are divided over Israel. This split, though never before so pronounced, is not new.”

Image: President Trump and PM Netanyahu (Wikimedia Commons).

 
What's Happening at CMEP
Events at CMEP

Public Statement:

CMEP Praises Passage of Resolution Removing U.S. Armed Forces from Yemen: The bipartisan vote is a promising step towards addressing ​the world’s worst humanitarian crisis​, which has left 80 percent of Yemen’s 28 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Be a Part of Hopeful Activism!

Register today for our annual advocacy summit in June. Our theme this year: Persistent Hope: 35 Years of CMEP.

Travel with CMEP

CMEP in the News:

With the Israeli election results in, now is a good time to review the second aspect of the decision, namely Israel’s future direction vis-a-vis the Palestinians, in our Executive Director’s new article in Middle East Monitor.

 

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"The aftermath of violence is always bitterness; the aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community." - Rev. Martin Luther King, Palm Sunday, 1959. Please support CMEP's building a beloved community.

 
Reconstruction in Iraq

For Religious Minorities Targeted by ISIS, New Schools and Clinics. But Where Are The People?
The Washington Post

“For Iraq’s non-Muslim minorities, in particular Christians whose communities are the Trump administration’s top priority, the protracted pace of reconstruction [after the Iraqi war] could push them past a tipping point. Already, barely one-seventh of Iraq’s Christian population before the war remains in the country.”

Image: Slow reconstruction in Iraq (Tamer El-Ghobashy/The Washington Post)

 
Palestinian child being arrested

Israeli Troops Detained a 9-year-old Palestinian at School. It's 'Becoming Normal', Locals Say
CNN

“In 2018, [UNICEF] received testimony from 65 Palestinian children arrested or detained either at school, or on their way to or from classes. Numbers from the Israeli Prison Services show a monthly average of 271 Palestinian children detained in 2018 for alleged security offenses. This does not include the total number of children who come into contact with security forces but are released after a few hours.”

Image: Palestinian youth arrested at a protest (Ammar Awad/Reuters).
 

 
President Carter

President Carter Issues Statement on BDS Act of 2019
The Carter Center

“‘Under our Constitution, people and legal entities have the right to express political views without fear of consequences,’ stated former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. ‘U.S. courts have protected the right of individuals to participate in boycotts as a form of political protest. The same protection applies to the right to advocate or oppose BDS.’”

Image: President Jimmy Carter (Ric Field/AP Photo). 
 

 

CMEP's Bulletin is a weekly round-up of news from the Middle East and represents an array of perspectives on the issues we cover. CMEP does not necessarily agree with all the views expressed in the articles, and they do not speak on CMEP's behalf.

Correction: March 29, 2019 Bulletin
Our News Bulletin from Friday, March 29, 2019 misstated the author of the article titled "Tip of the Spear: The US Christian Movement Praying for Trump and Israel." The author of the piece is Azad Essa, not Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon.

Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
110 Maryland Ave NE, Suite 311 | Washington, District of Columbia  20002
(202) 543-1222 | info@cmep.org

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