AIPAC and AJC Refuse ‘Time Out’ on Iran Push
AIPAC and the American Jewish Committee refused a White House request to suspend lobbying for new sanctions on Iran.
Top National Security Council staffers in an Oct. 29 meeting had asked the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the AJC to suspend for 60 days lobbying for new congressional legislation that would intensify sanctions. They also made the request to the Anti-Defamation League and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
ADL National Director Abraham Foxman told Haaretz over the weekend that he favored the suspension. Malcolm Hoenlein, executive director of the Presidents Conference, was unavailable for comment.
AIPAC said over the weekend that “there will absolutely be no pause, delay or moratorium in our efforts” to advance the sanctions.
In a column Monday in Haaretz, AJC director David Harris showed some sympathy to the Obama administration’s view that new sanctions could disrupt renewed talks with Iran to end its suspected nuclear weapons program.
However, he found the argument in favor of such sanctions “more compelling.”
“Since it is the ever-toughening sanctions that got Iran to negotiate in the first place, there needs to be a reminder that things will get still worse for Tehran if nothing changes soon on the ground,” Harris wrote. “Elaborate efforts on Iran’s part to buy time — with Tehran’s mastery of modulated feints, nods, winks, and hints of openness — just won’t wash.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
