Clouds on Israeli Horizon? President Slams PM Netanyahu’s Anti-Iran Policy

Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, reportedly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign against the Iran deal, telling Israeli reporters in New York on Thursday that, “The Israeli government should not be telling U.S Jews what they should do vis a vis their government”.

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In a petition signed and publicised in Israeli newspapers, the officials termed as “fait accompli” the finalisation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) by representatives from Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – Britain, China, France, Russian Federation and the United States – plus Germany in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on July 14.

This puts J Street in direct confrontation with the more than 80 percent of the Jews of Israel, whose political parties from left to right are fiercely united against President Barack Obama’s deal. Abshenass called Netanyahu’s concern for the raising of economic sanctions “natural”. In defense of the Iran nuclear agreement he said many things, worth thinking about. “And then after two to three months, Iran expects that the assets that were earlier frozen (120 to 180 billion dollars, according to estimates), will be returned to the treasury”. “We don’t want a rupture in U.S.-Israel relations”.

Having infuriated the Obama administration by speaking against Iran in Congress in March at the invitation of the Democratic president’s Republican rivals, Netanyahu cast himself as the emissary of an Israeli public that, polls show, mostly shares his misgivings about the deal with Iran.

” Doing so would “allow us to prepare to face the numerous challenges that will result from the agreement”, the petition says”. “Through active engagement, countries could counteract modern challenges and threats – fundamentalism and terrorism”, Abshenass said.