In NY synagogue, Saudi Royal and ex-Mossad chief debate Trump’s approach to Iran

ed note–all those who reacted reflexively to Trump’s recent refusal to re-certify the terms of the JCPOA with all the typical pissing and moaning and the assertion that this just PROVES Trump is ‘owned by the Jews’ had/have no idea just what was/is really at stake with this agreement. No one calling themselves a ‘truther’ should see this deal as anything other than a Trojan Horse on the part of the ‘smarter elements’ within Judea, Inc to chew their way into the Iranian system and to rot it out from within, as evidenced by the words of ex-Mossad chief Halevy himself who said as much, to wit–

‘…The deal should stay in place, if only because during those intervening years, there will be other opportunities to address other issues…’

Those ‘opportunities’ that the former head of Israel’s assassination/sabotage agency Mossad is talking about is the manner by which Israel, the US, and the West can utilize this period of ‘near normalization’ of ties between Iran and the world to chew their way into the Iranian system and cause havoc, as described BRILLIANTLY in this piece written a few years ago by some guy we all know, to wit–

‘If they—Israel and America–succeed in having the gates of Persia opened to them, then the first part of Iran’s central nervous system that the virus of U.S./Israeli influence will attack will of course be her financial system—up to this point out of the reach of Zionist banking interests–that will be brought in-line with the West, so that Iran’s economy—rather than being subjected to the cumbersome nature of arbitrary sanctions—can instead be manipulated via the remote control mechanisms of the IMF, World Bank and other agencies of economic espionage and sabotage…Next in line of course would be Iran’s intelligence and state security apparati that up until now have been very successful in rooting out and thwarting American and Israeli plots aimed at bringing destabilization and political/social unrest…And last, but certainly not least in terms of its importance would be the penetration of Iranian media and mass communication with the same corrupting influences that prevail in the West, a strategy once suggested by none other than Benjamin Netanyahu himself who suggested that the United States ‘incite a revolution’ against the conservative Iranian clergy through the use of popular television programs that feature ‘beautiful young people in varying states of undress, living, glamorous, materialistic lives and engaging in promiscuous sex’, capping off his statements with ‘This is pretty subversive stuff…The kids of Iran would want the nice clothes they see on those shows. They would want the swimming pools and fancy lifestyles.’

That (at least some elements within) Israel wanted this ‘deal” with Iran (and presumably for the strategic reasons listed above) to go through was evidenced by Halevi’s remarks on the matter to wit–

‘The Iran deal was not an ideal deal, but this was only so because Israel did not wish the negotiations to include all the items on the agenda.’

–In other words, despite whatever opposition–real or contrived–on the part of Netanyahu and Likud at that time, Obama’s rapprochement with Iran was steered by Israel all along, a fact proven no less than by the words of the former head of Mossad himself.

What this little vignette also shows is the disparity of sophistication between the Jews and Arabs when it comes to strategy. The Jews understand that it is in their interests to keep the deal in place whereas the Arabs–in the person of Faisal–want to see the deal go away, believing that it actually represents a warming of ties between Iran and the West.

Times of Israel

While the Iran deal has brought Israel and Sunni Arab states together in ways few imagined just years ago, difference were still clear when former Saudi and Israeli spy chiefs shared a stage in a New York synagogue.

During the unprecedented event Sunday, Prince Turki bin Faisal al-Saud, a former chief of Saudi intelligence and ambassador to the United States and the United Kingdom and Efraim Halevy, former director of the Mossad debated the US President Donald Trump recently-announced strategy for amending the nuclear agreement, while also addressing Tehran’s ongoing non-nuclear provocations.

“If you want to put pressure on Iran, you have to do whatever it means to do that and decertification is one way of putting in that pressure to make them live up not just to the letter of the deal, but the spirit,” said Faisal.

“The signers of the deal, when they signed it, portrayed the holy picture that it was going to turn into a very friendly and open and hospitable place to do business with, but that hasn’t happened.”

Faisal spoke during a panel discussion with Halevy and Michèle Flournoy, former US undersecretary of defense for policy. Organized by the Israel Policy Forum, a liberal Middle East advocacy organization, the talk was moderated by its executive director David Halperin.

Faisal, who has appeared onstage with Israeli officials before, told the audience the summit was his first time in a Jewish synagogue. He said he hoped “it would not be the last.”

While the ex-Saudi official said he thought there was a “lack of clarity” regarding the Trump administration’s current policy, he praised their willingness to engage the region more directly and confront Iran actions outside the nuclear realm.

But Halevy, for his part, warned against that approach and said Israel did not want the US to go that route.

Instead, he insisted the deal should stay in place, if only because it prevents Iran from developing a nuclear arsenal for the next 13 years. During those intervening years, there will be opportunities to address the other issues

The US should “focus on the nuclear issue and nothing else,” he said. “The Iran deal was not an ideal deal. But this was because Israel did not wish the negotiations to include all the items on the agenda.”

Halevy went on to stress that Israel could handle the threat from Iran, a country that has recurrently said openly that it seeks the Jewish state’s destruction.

“Israel is indestructible. We are able to, if necessary, protect ourselves and emerge intact,” he said. “I have huge faith in our military establishment, our defense establishment, and our intelligence establishment.”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson explained to reporters that the administration wants lawmakers to amend the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA), a domestic law that forces the White House to report to Congress every 90 days on whether Iran is abiding by the accord.

They will ask the Senate to use the two-month window to unilaterally impose new “triggers” on the deal that would outlast the JCPOA’s sunset provisions and prohibit Iran from developing and testing ballistic missiles.

The White House has explained this move as an attempt to extend its focus on Tehran beyond the nuclear realm, incorporating the Islamic Republic’s other destabilizing activities, as well.

Trump has said repeatedly that if Congress fails to enact the changes he seeks to the deal, he may very well just walk away from it on his own.

Faisal also urged the Trump administration to take a more hardline approach toward Syria’s brutal dictator, Bashar Assad, and to persuade Russia to drop its support for his regime, which is responsible for the deaths of more than half a million Syrians during the country’s ongoing civil war.

“Assad is the biggest terrorist. He has killed more people than Hamas, ISIS or al-Nusra,” he said. “Therefore, the effort needs to be to convince Russia not to necessarily abandon, but to keep an arm’s distance from Mr. Assad. If that happens, we can get things happening in Syria.”