Israeli security cabinet unanimously opposed to Iran nuclear deal
(JNS.org) The Israeli security cabinet is “united in opposition” to the Iran nuclear framework deal that was announced on Thursday between Iran and world powers in Switzerland.
In a statement following the cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that any final nuclear deal must include Iran recognizing Israel’s right to exist.
“Israel demands that any final agreement with Iran will include a clear and unambiguous Iranian commitment of Israel’s right to exist,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu added that Iran has repeatedly called for Israel’s destruction, even while negotiations were taking place with the P5+1 (U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany) world powers.
“Iran is a regime that openly calls for Israel’s destruction and openly and actively works towards that end.” Netanyahu said. “Just two days ago, in the midst of the negotiations in Lausanne, the commander of the Basij security forces in Iran said this: The destruction of Israel is non-negotiable.’ Well, I want to make clear to all. The survival of Israel is non-negotiable.”
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Historic deal approved for export of natural gas to Jordan
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom, and Petroleum Commissioner Alexander Varshavsky have approved a deal to export natural gas to private customers in Jordan.
The deal calls for Israel’s Tamar partnership to export 1.8 billion cubic meters (BCM) of gas to Jordan Bromine Company Ltd. and to the Arab Potash Company, located on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea. The deal is expected to remain in effect for 15 years and is assessed to be worth half a billion dollars.
Representatives of the energy partnership said that this was the first time the Israeli government had approved a gas export contract with the goal of strengthening relations with neighboring countries.
Speaking on Thursday, Shalom called the Jordanian deal a “historic agreement [that is] meaningful for Israel’s foreign relations and which is an opening for other deals with nations in the region.
“The deal is part of Israel’s natural gas export strategy, and I am hopeful that it will soon be implemented despite the difficulties of these past few months. This is a first, but very significant, deal that will bolster Israel’s international standing as an energy power,” the minister said.
The Tamar partnership recently signed another contract to export at least 5 BCM of gas valued at some $1.2 billion to Egypt’s Dolphinus Holdings for an initial period of three years. Under the terms of the deal, Israel will export the gas to Egypt, a move that is expected to help that country address its severe energy crisis.
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Criticism by U.S. lawmakers mounts on Iran deal as Obama faces potential Senate showdown
(JNS.org) Criticism by U.S. lawmakers of the Iran nuclear framework deal announced on Thursday is mounting as President Barack Obama faces a possible showdown with Congress over its role reviewing the agreement when it returns from recess on April 14.
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) ripped apart the nuclear deal with Iran, arguing that President Obama’s negotiation team was worse than Great Britain’s pre-war Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s attempts to appease Nazi Germany in 1938.
“Neville Chamberlain got a lot of more out of Hitler than Wendy Sherman got out of Iran,” Kirk said in reference to Obama’s top State Department negotiator on the Iran deal, Politico reported.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement that a we “must remain clear-eyed” regarding Iran’s intentions and “long history of covert nuclear weapons programs, support of terrorism, destabilizing the Middle East.”
Corker, who is a co-sponsor of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 requiring any final agreement to be submitted to Congress for a 60-day review period before U.S. sanctions on Iran could be waived or lifted, said that he is “confident of a strong vote on the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee takes it up on April 14.”
While Senate Republicans support the Iran review bill, Democrats have been under intense pressure from the White House not to support it. Republicans would need at least a two-thirds majority if they seek to override a potential Obama veto.
The top Democrat on the foreign relations committee, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said that while Congress has the right to review the agreement, he didn’t want to undermine the president.
“I want it to strengthen the president, not weaken the president, I don’t want it to undermine negotiations,” Cardin said on Thursday, Politico reported.
Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio), who is leading a congressional delegation to Israel this week, said that the parameters of the deal are an “alarming departure from the White House’s initial goals.”
“After visiting with our partners on the ground in the Middle East this week, my concerns about Iran’s efforts to foment unrest, brutal violence and terror have only grown,” Boehner said in a statement.
“It would be naïve to suggest the Iranian regime will not continue to use its nuclear program, and any economic relief, to further destabilize the region,” he said.
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Research analyst notes Arak, Fordow sites remain open
Behnam Ben Taleblu, a Iran research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told JNS.org that the framework deal laid out today “highlights both the achievements and shortcomings” of the original interim deal agreed to in 2013.
“While the specifications for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) released by the State Department involve a host of technical modifications, key Iranian sites like the Heavy Water reactor at Arak and the facility at Fordow will not be shuttered. The centrifuge cap is also higher than I would have liked,” he said.
“While the West may see this as yet another necessary interim measure to reach a comprehensive accord, Iran continues to see this a victory, chiefly for the continuation of its nuclear program,” Ben Taleblu added.
Just as the framework was announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also posted on Twitter that “Any deal must significantly roll back Iran’s nuclear capabilities and stop its terrorism and aggression,” and included a map illustrating Iranian interference across the Middle East.
Later in a call with President Barack Obama, Netanyahu reiterated his criticism of the deal, saying that it could put Israel’s future at risk.
“This deal would legitimize Iran’s nuclear program, bolster Iran’s economy & increase Iran’s aggression and terror,” Netanyahu told Obama, according to Mark Regev, the prime minister’s spokesman.
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Indiana Jewish organizations join criticism of Religious Freedom Restoration Act
(JNS.org) Members of the Jewish community in Indiana reacted to the state’s ratification of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
The law, which was signed into law by Indiana Governor Mike Pence last Thursday after passing in the Republican-controlled state legislature, states that a “government entity” cannot “substantially burden” what the law describes as “a person’s exercise of religion.” However, the law has concerned many due to a perceived loophole that could allow businesses to discriminate against members of the LGBT community in the state.
“I think the law is extremely backwards. It’s like we are regressing as a society,” Michael Steinberg, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Northwest Indiana, told the Jerusalem Post.
The Indianapolis chapter of the the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) also expressed opposition, stating that the “statute will ultimately threaten religious freedom more than protect it, particularly minority communities such as ours…As members of a religious minority who have faced discrimination because of our religious practices, we deeply regret the inherent injustice this law potentially creates.”
In response to the criticism, Indiana lawmakers have unveiled a fix to the law that would prohibit businesses from using the law as a defense in court if they refused services to any customers based on “race, color, religion, ancestry, age, national origin, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or United States military service,” reported CNN. The state’s House and Senate are set to vote on the legislative fix Thursday, and then send it to the governor for immediate signing.
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Police suspect prank as Israeli feared kidnapped in Judea found safe
(JNS.org) The Israeli man who went missing in the Judea region Thursday has been found safe, sparking the accusation by authorities that he faked his disappearance along with the friend who reported him missing.
Earlier on Thursday, IDF and Israeli police forces undertook a massive search in an area between Kiryat Arba and Bayt Einun in the Judea region after receiving an emergency call that indicated a possible kidnapping of an Israeli youth by Palestinians.
The person who made the emergency call said that he and a friend became stranded in their vehicle due to a flat tire, and that his friend went to find tools to replace the wheel but never returned.
When the IDF arrived on the scene, they found no flat tires in the vehicle and took the caller into custody. later, in addition to a ground search, the army launched drones and observation balloons to get a bird’s eye view of the area.
By late Thursday police discovered the missing man, 22-year-old Niv Asraf, alive in a dry creek bed with a sleeping bag and a supply of food.
Police are now investigating the incident as a hoax, especially since another friend of Asraf told authorities that “this isn’t the first time he’s gone missing.”
“The ‘missing man’ and his friends staged a kidnapping. We’ll investigate the reasons behind this and will handle this to the full extent of the law,” a police spokesperson said, Yedioth Achronoth reported.
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Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman.
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