Americans for Peace Now In 1978, 348 senior Israeli army officers wrote a letter to Prime Minister
Menachem Begin calling for peace between Israel and
Egypt. The letter stated: :The government policy, perpetuating its rule over a million Arabs, could harm the Jewish-democratic character of the state, and makes it difficult for us to identify with the task. Mindful of Israel's security needs and the difficulties on the path to peace, we nevertheless consider that real security can be achieved only when we achieve peace." This petition led to the creation of the Israeli organization
Peace Now (
Shalom Achshav). Americans for Peace Now (APN) was a
left-wing nonprofit organization based in the United States founded in 1981 as American Friends of Peace Now. In 1989 it changed its name to Americans for Peace Now. APN described itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit, pro-Israel, pro-peace, American Jewish organization. The organization played only a marginal role in American Jewish life in the 1980s, but grew in significance in the 1990s; around 1992 it reported a membership of 10,000 members, in 21 chapters throughout the United States, and was accepted for membership in the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Ameinu Ameinu (, "our people") was a left-wing
American Jewish Zionist organization, established in 2004 in the tradition of the
Labor Zionist Alliance in the United States that had begun with the founding of
Poale Zion, which came together in 1906, or as an “offshoot” of the
Israeli Labor Party. Ameinu was described as left-wing, Ameinu was the United States affiliate of the
World Labor Zionist Movement and a member of umbrella organizations
Progressive Israel Network (along with
Americans for Peace Now,
Habonim Dror North America,
Hashomer Hatzair World Movement,
Jewish Labor Committee,
J Street,
New Israel Fund,
Partners for Progressive Israel,
Reconstructing Judaism and
T’ruah), the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and the
American Zionist Movement Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues. Ameinu established partnerships with Israeli organizations to foster a deeper connection between
American Jews and Israel and to financially support the organization's work. NISPED (the Negev Institute for Strategic of Peace Development) addresses
economic development and cooperation between Arabs and Jews living inside Israel as well as between
Israelis and
Palestinians. Ameinu provided funding for
Habonim Dror North America, a
Zionist youth movement. Ameinu co-founded the
Union of Progressive Zionists student organization and provided funding for its activities. Ameinu advocated within the American Jewish community around a variety of issues. Ameinu took positions in support of
Israeli–Palestinian peace initiatives such as the
Geneva Accord and the People's Voice, in support of the
Israeli unilateral disengagement from Gaza, opposing
divestment from Israel, condemning calls by
Iran's president,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for the destruction of Israel, in opposition to the destruction of
Bedouin villages in Israel, criticising Reverend
John Hagee's
anti-Catholicism, and on other issues. In 2007 Ameinu took a role in organising a pro-peace rally in Annapolis at the time of the
Annapolis Peace Conference convened by President
George W. Bush. In 2008, the organization published a booklet entitled "Progressive Zionist Answers to the Anti-Israel Left" for use in communities and on campuses. By 2022, Ameinu had a staff of one-and-a-half people and an annual income of $357,000. After the
2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, the group most focused on navigating a left that was increasingly hostile to Israel. In 2024 Americans for Peace Now and Ameinu merged to form the New Jewish Narrative. == See also ==