From the far right to the far left, Jewish groups are expressing outrage over the deal that Trump and Iran announced on Sunday night, even as its terms have not yet officially come into focus.
Jewish Telegraph Agency
In 2018, as former US President Barack Obama struck a deal with Iran to constrain its nuclear production, American Jewish groups were divided: Those on the right excoriated the deal, saying it left Iran a major threat to Israel, while those on the left were more supportive.
This time however, as US President Donald Trump has announced a new deal with Iran after months of war that the United States fought jointly with Israel, American Jewish groups are more unified in their opposition to it.
From the far right to the far left to everything in between, Jewish groups are expressing their obvious outrage over the deal that Trump and Iran announced on Sunday night, even as its terms have not yet officially come into focus.
Trump has emphasized that the deal reopens the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran closed after the war began on Febuary 28. US Vice President JD Vance also told ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ that the deal would include significant sanctions relief in exchange for Iran’s agreement that it would give up its nuclear weapons program.
But it’s not clear what concessions Iran has made on the nuclear front, while there are no indications that other issues key to Israeli security, including Tehran’s ballistic missile program and proxy network, have been addressed. Although Israel and the US undertook the war jointly in February, Israel was not a party to the negotiations and has come under repeated criticism from Trump for jeopardizing talks with Iran.
‘An admission of defeat by the US’
‘It’s an admission of defeat by the United States,’ said Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, in a statement on Monday about the deal.
The Jewish Democratic Council of America was founded in 2017 as a successor to the National Jewish Democratic Council, which supported the Obama-era deal, called the JCPOA.
Soifer added, ‘Donald Trump was so desperate to get a deal with Iran that he was unabashedly willing to push Israel aside, demonstrating – yet again – that Trump has no loyalty or commitment to anyone other than himself.’
The right-wing Zionist Organization of America, meanwhile reacted to the deal with great concern.
‘We call on the administration to disclose the terms as soon as possible,’ President Morton Klein said in a statement. ‘However, the little that we do know is deeply problematic.’
Klein’s statement outlined a host of qualms based on reporting about the deal’s possible conditions, including about signs that Trump had agreed to a deal that omitted terms that Trump previously said repeatedly were essential for a US agreement.
‘It makes no sense for the US to immediately give up its pressure on the Iranian regime – the blockade that was strangulating Iran economically – without obtaining immediate removal of Iran’s nuclear stockpile, the decommissioning of Iran’s nuclear facilities, and destruction of Iran’s deadly missile stockpile,’ Klein said.
AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby that was one of the strongest opponents of the JCPOA, has not yet issued a statement about the new deal, but it did retweet a comment from Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott listing his own objections.
Some concerned that Iran’s view on the agreement differs from that of the US
Scott’s fellow Republican senator, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, was among those on both sides of the Congressional aisle expressing opposition. ‘I am somewhat concerned that Iran’s view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiating team is claiming,’ Graham tweeted on Sunday, saying that he thought it was ‘imperative’ that Vance present the terms of the deal to Congress for approval.
Vance said on Monday that the deal had been ‘digitally’ signed already despite ‘technical things’ that still needed to be worked out ahead of a ceremony planned for Switzerland on Friday. Speaking to US media, he said he believed the terms were being mischaracterized and that the deal would result in an Iran without nuclear ambitions.
‘If the Iranians are willing to give a long-term commitment, along with proper verification, to giving up that nuclear weapon, we’re willing to welcome them into the world economy, lift sanctions, and to turn over a new leaf in that relationship,’ Vance said on ‘Good Morning America.’
Some Jewish groups have been more circumspect in their initial responses.
The Republican Jewish Coalition has not issued a statement on the deal, but the Democratic Majority for Israel criticized Trump for cutting Israel out of the negotiations, adding that ‘We continue to stand with the Israeli people who have been at war for more than two years’.