The United States and other leading powers (known as the P5 +1) are finalizing an accord that would prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon in return for lifting harsh economic sanctions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demands that Congress kill the agreement and increase sanctions. Mr. Netanyahu claims the alternative to this “bad” deal is not war but “a better deal.”
Republicans, and Democrats such as Indiana’s Senator Joe Donnelly, are supporting a bill that – even after revisions — recklessly endangers the agreement.
Some of the best informed Israelis, however, acknowledge that diplomacy is achieving what war cannot. Ron Ben-Yishai, the senior military analyst for Israel’s most mainstream newspaper, Yedioth Aharonot, wrote: “We could not have achieved a better outcome even if Israel, the United States, and other countries had carried out military strikes on the nuclear sites in Iran.”
If the U.S. and Israel reject the concessions that Iran has made, other powers would resume business with Iran – without the limits that the deal provides. The pressure for a U.S. or Israeli strike would grow.
Bombing could set back Iran’s program at most five years; the negotiated agreement lasts ten. Even repeated bombing would make Iran more, not less likely, to build a nuclear weapon deep underground to deter future attack.
Citizens should encourage Senators to withstand the pressures of right wing billionaires and instead support diplomacy. Senator Donnelly, as a moderate Democrat, is key.
Sources:
https://972mag.com/israel-media-survey-iran-deal-not-so-bad-after-all/105259/
https://972mag.com/netanyahu-resurrects-no-partner-excuse-for-iran-deal/105357/
https://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/irannuclear-deal32015reduced.pdf
https://www.armscontrol.org/issue-briefs/2015-02-11/Voting-Up-or-Down-on-an-Iran-Nuclear-Deal-Not-as-Easy-as-123
