U.S. Foreign Policy
“Today, the price for tackling the Iranian challenge on the global and regional levels are higher than they were a year ago and lower than they will be within a year,” said Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz at a conference on “The New Global Order.”
A bill proposed by Rep. Greg Steube would halt or limit assistance to Jordan for violating a 1995 extradition treaty over its harboring of a Hamas terrorist.
It comes amid a backdrop of tensions on the Temple Mount, a weakened Jordanian economy and instability among the ruling family.
“We have lived with Islamists in Iran and know their psychology, their politics and the way they operate. Appeasing them will haunt you, and they consider these moves as temporary and a sign of weakness,” says George Haroonian, a Los Angeles-based Iranian Jewish activist.
As a result, the tourists who were carrying tefillin and tallitot canceled their planned three-day trip to Jordan.
The motion states that Congress would support the JCPOA only if it includes provisions to address Iran’s ballistic-missile program; support for terrorism; and evasion of sanctions by individuals, entities and vessels in the trade of petroleum products with China.
Mark Dubowitz, CEO of Foundation for Defense of Democracies, tweeted: “ ‘Smarter’ Iran policy has spectacularly failed. Time for new ‘tough’ policy and new personnel with credibility to execute.”
“The two leaders discussed in detail recent efforts to stem violence in Israel and the West Bank,” said a White House statement.
With Tehran digging in its heels over its demand that the IRGC be delisted as a terrorist organization, and adding fresh demands, Israeli diplomats say Jerusalem’s working assumption is that a new deal will not be forthcoming.
Brig. Gen. (res.) Professor Jacob Nagel says that a “no deal” scenario is better than the current faulty proposal and that the time for new proactive steps to stop Iran’s nuclear program is overdue.
Professor Eytan Gilboa, an expert on American-Israeli relations, says the White House remains fixated on a poor Iran deal, though good ties between the Israeli and U.S. defense ministers have facilitated some coordination.
“If there is no return to the JCPOA, I assume there will be efforts to somehow delay progress in activity,” says Raz Zimmt, an expert on Iran at the Institute for National Security Studies.
