Eight Jewish federations come out against Iran deal, most stay silent
Five ex-US ambassadors to Israel express support for accord
WASHINGTON ( JTA) – While the majority of the 151 Jewish federations in North America are withholding judgment on the nuclear deal with Iran, at least eight have come out against it.
So far, the federations of Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, South Palm Beach and Miami are opposing the deal, which curbs Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
“We cannot be silent in our opposition to an agreement that takes far too many risks with one of the world’s most dangerous regimes,” the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County of Florida said.
Rather than taking firm positions, some federations are counseling their communities to use Congress’s 60-day review period to learn about the international agreement and share their opinions with elected officials.
“There is a plethora of diverse opinions,” said Gregg Roman, the community relations council director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. “For our federation to come out with a position would be irresponsible. We’re not going to pretend we’re nuclear experts.”
Steven Rakitt, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, said that each community and federation is different.
“We’re looking carefully at this and we’ll come to our own conclusions,” he said.
The Washington federation, through the website of its community relations council, is disseminating a range of articles on the agreement, including Washington Post commentator Charles Krauthammer’s flat-out no, and a Foreign Policy piece by two officials at The Washington Institute, David Makovsky and Matthew Levitt, making the case for steps the Obama administration could take to make the deal more palatable to those who worry it will end up boosting Iran’s support for terrorism.
Five former US ambassadors to Israel sent a letter to Congress in favor of the Iran nuclear deal.
James Cunningham, William Harrop, Daniel Kurtzer, Thomas Pickering and Edward Walker Jr. signed the letter, along with R. Nicholas Burns, former undersecretary of state for political affairs and ambassador to NATO, and Frank Wisner, former undersecretary of state for international security affairs and undersecretary of defense for policy, the Times of Israel reported.
“No agreement between multiple parties can be perfect or without risks,” the letter stated. “We believe that without this agreement, however, the risks will be much higher for the United States and Israel. We see no fatal flaws that should call for the rejection of this agreement and have not heard any viable alternatives from those who oppose the implementation” of the deal.