Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Agudath Israel Leaders Meet with Senator Gillibrand on Iran Nuclear Deal

As the U.S. Senate entered the final days of its session before breaking for summer recess, a high ranking delegation of Agudath Israel of America leaders traveled to Washington earlier this week to meet with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D, NY) to discuss the organization's deep concerns about the Iranian nuclear deal, and to urge her to vote against the deal.


In a meeting that lasted over half-an-hour, the Agudath Israel delegation delivered a clear message: the proposed deal with Iran is fraught with grave danger for America and its allies, especially Israel, and should be disapproved.



Senator Gillibrand, who was clearly knowledgeable about the many complex issues surrounding the proposed agreement yet deeply interested in the insights her guests brought to the table, took careful notes as the Agudath Israel leaders made their case. While she did not definitively indicate which way she planned to vote, the Senator spoke with great passion about the terrible threat a nuclear empowered Iran would pose, and she forcefully articulated America's responsibility to prevent that threat from materializing.


After the meeting, Agudath Israel executive vice president Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel described Senator Gillibrand as "diligent and intelligent, sensitive to the concerns we raised and clear-eyed about the nature of the Iranian threat.  It was a privilege for us to have an opportunity to engage the Senator in intense face-to-face dialogue on this vital issue."


The other members of the Agudath Israel delegation included three members of the organization's board of trustees, Charles (Hashi) Herzka, Ralph (Shmuel Yosef) Rieder and Jacob (Yaty) Weinreb, as well as Agudath Israel's executive vice president for finance and administration Rabbi Shlomo Gertzulin, and vice president for federal affairs Rabbi Abba Cohen.


The meeting with Senator Gillibrand was one of a series of targeted meetings Agudath Israel plans to have in the weeks ahead with Senators and Representatives who have not yet indicated how they intend to vote on the Iranian deal.  "We hope," Rabbi Zwiebel said, "that the relationship many of our key constituents across America enjoy with their elected officials, and the perspectives we have to offer, will prove useful in persuading those officials to vote no on this dangerous deal."

5 comments:

  1. Cornelius Tacticus, the famous Jew-hating Roman historian who lived from circa 56 CE to year 120 CE said:

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  2. Michael B. Oren said:

    “The dangers became apparent in September 2000 as a Black Hawk helicopter transported me and my combat gear across the West Bank. The previous night, I looked out from our Jerusalem balcony and saw crimson fireworks bursting over the West Bank. Arafat had recently met with President Clinton and Israel Prime Minister Ehud Barak at Camp David and turned down their offer of Palestinian statehood in Gaza, virtually all of the West Bank, and half of Jerusalem. The Palestinians were now celebrating the failure of peace.”

    SOURCE: Ally (page 35) by Michael B. Oren (former ambassador of Israel to the United States), year 2015 CE, Random House, New York

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  3. Michael B. Oren said:

    “Negotiating with a representative of the Libyan pirates in [year] 1786, Thomas Jefferson was told that the Quran commanded the destruction of all non-believers, Americans included.”

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  5. I myself wonder about the value of these meetings.

    On the one hand, they have very little chance of succeeding. Aguda can have a big influence on obscure issues that are of primary interest to frum people and virtually no one else, and all you really need is to find a political sponsor. But when it comes to issues like this, where it's a huge battle being fought by forces that completely dwarf Aguda and their influence, they have virtually no influence. (And indeed, Senator Gillibrand announced that she will support it.)

    And on the other hand, Aguda both spends political capital (it's a bit harder to keep getting audiences with Senators) and also feeds into the perception that it's an Israeli thing and that the Jews are primarily loyal to Israel.

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