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.

"Now, do not be grieved or angry..." With these words, Joseph forgives his brothers. In this week's portion, we learn a powerful lesson about the power we have to forgive and move forward- seeking peace and mutual survival over seeking revenge and becoming mired in past wrongs.

Inspired by Gershom Gorenberg's "contest" between candidates for worst political PR, we have for you a round-up of our top ten PR failures!

Top 10 PR flubs (in addition to Gershom's)

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!

The State of the Anarchists 

Today's top ten!

Have you ever wondered what Americans for Peace Now does? Today's top ten list explains what you support when you donate to APN. Every dollar you donate sustains essential work building peace for Israel and its neighbors.

This week, we are closing out the year with (what else?) a few top ten lists. Today's offering: our top ten best quotes for 2011 - unranked, and completely subjective. We believe that these quotes underline the urgency of moving forward and reaching out to create peace in Israel and the occupied territories.

Is it possible to hear those we hate?

At the beginning of this week's Torah portion Vayeshev (which means "he dwelt"), the patriarch Jacob is living in Canaan with his children. Jacob has many children, but Joseph, the elder son of his beloved wife Rachel, is favored.

The issue of Israel has a legitimate place in the debate and discourse of a US election. As part of a serious discussion, we expect to see how each candidate would advance Israel-Palestinian peace. In order to promote such a debate, APN has launched its "Elections 2012: Responsibility over Rhetoric" campaign.

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.

Americans for Peace Now today sent the following letter to the Republican presidential candidates, to President Obama, to the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee:

GOP presidential contender Newt Gingrich said in an interview with the Jewish Channel last week that the Palestinians were an "invented" people. Later, at a GOP presidential debate, he refused to retract, and said, "It's fundamentally-- time for somebody to have the guts to stand up and say: Enough lying about the Middle East."

Why peace is possible: the Hiriya garbage dump theory

Thursday, December 8, 2011 | by Ori Nir

As an Israel Defense Forces soldier in the late 1970s and early '80s, my favorite spot to hitchhike back to my home in Jerusalem was the Ganot junction near Ben Gurion Airport. I spent dozens if not hundreds of hours standing there, waiting for a ride, gazing at the jets landing and taking off.

Unfortunately, the tantalizing view of the jets' bellies came with a nauseating odor of garbage. Why garbage? Because on the other side of the junction was Hiriya, Tel Aviv's main garbage dump, literally a mountain of garbage.

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.

Israeli author Amos Oz talks about how American Jews who support the peace movement are loyal and devoted to Israel - "no less, and perhaps more than their militant bretheren." He says "there is more than one way to be pro-israel, there is more than one way to support Israel, there is more than one way to love Israel."