by Boaz Bismuth
Seeing as how some people have chosen (through their political campaign and through our media) to turn the emerging deal with Iran into a political matter, we have witnessed in recent weeks a debate that is entirely black or white. However, only days before Netanyahu's arrival in Washington, it has become clear that the reality is different.
"There are few national
security priorities for our country more important than preventing Iran
from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and any agreement that seeks to do
this must include Congress having a say on the front end." Those words
were uttered by Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, but his
sentiments are shared by a significant group of senators -- from both
parties -- who have proposed a new bill aimed at preventing the emerging
deal with Iran from bypassing Congress.
Could it be that some
people in the U.S. are also worried about a bad deal being signed? Could
it be that on Capitol Hill there are Democratic senators who agree with
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? Could it be that in Washington, too,
there are those who do not particularly trust the administration on the
nuclear issue?
Seeing as how some
people have chosen (through their political campaign and through our
media) to turn the emerging deal with Iran into a political matter, we
have witnessed in recent weeks a debate that is entirely black or white.
However, only days before Netanyahu's arrival in Washington, it has
become clear that the reality is different.
Senators Robert
Menendez (New Jersey), Tim Kaine (Virginia), Joe Donnelly (Indiana),
Heidi Heitkamp (North Dakota) and Bill Nelson (Florida) are all
Democrats. This didn't stop them, over the past few days, from joining
their Republican colleagues Bob Corker, Marco Rubio (Florida), John
McCain (Arizona) and Jim Risch (Idaho) in the goal of obligating Obama
to pass his Iran deal through Congress and allow for a timeframe of 60
days to examine the administration's request to lift the economic
sanctions imposed on Iran, voted for by the Senate in an overwhelming
majority of 99 senators in 2010.
Even the Independent
representative in the group, Sen. Angus King of Maine, is a former
Democrat. The initiative only proves that across the ocean as well,
folks are nervous about a bad deal. Perhaps it is time for us to
understand that making the Iran issue a political flashpoint merely
plays into Iran's hands.
It would have been
preferable for the U.S. president and Israeli prime minister to share
the same worldview about events currently transpiring in the Middle
East. This is not the case, but we need to remember that the United
States and Israel have not only differences, but share mutual interests
as well -- and that Israel-U.S. ties are not only governmental, but also
predicated on the warm relationship between peoples and lawmakers.
"The American people
and both parties in Congress have always stood with Israel and nothing,
and no one, could get in the way," House Speaker John Boehner said last
week.
Yes, in Washington
there are also those who see Netanyahu's upcoming visit to Capitol Hill
in a negative light, including President Barack Obama and his deputy,
Vice President Joe Biden, who will not attend the speech. It's a shame
it has come to this, but we must remind the Israel-friendly American
administration that Netanyahu's speech is not "destructive," as National
Security Adviser Susan Rice was quoted as saying. What is "destructive"
is a bad deal with Iran. And this time it is not only destructive to
diplomatic relations, is it simply destructive to Israel.
The time has come,
perhaps, to go back to the essentials of this story: Tomorrow the same
Susan Rice, along with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power, is
expected to address the AIPAC Conference and lay out the
administration's principles on the deal. Meanwhile, Democratic senators
are joining the initiative to force Obama to consider the views of
Congress, which now has some teeth.
This is perhaps the time to
return to sanity on this issue and understand, like those Democratic
senators, that the danger does not lie in Netanyahu's speech but in a
bad deal with the ayatollahs.
Boaz Bismuth
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=11749
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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