Although Israeli gov’t including opposition parties agree with single voice against dangerously bad Iran deal, the left-wing J-Street group runs full-page NYT ad in favor of deal in effort to sway Congress to embrace it.

Although most Americans and Israelis say they oppose the nuclear agreement signed between Iran and world powers earlier this month, left-wing pro-Israel lobby J Street has tried to cast it in a different light, all but ignoring the criticism the agreement has generated.

J Street has launched a campaign to prompt lawmakers to support the nuclear agreement with Iran – Screenshot: jstreet.org

The group has recently begun running ads aimed at convincing U.S. Jews to support the deal and apply pressure on their representatives in Congress as both chambers deliberate the agreement’s provisions.

On Thursday, the organization ran a full-page ad in The New York Times in support of the deal. The ad, which effectively ignores the all-too-obvious shortcomings in the deal, reads, “Do the Math: Iran minus uranium minus plutonium minus centrifuges + 24/7 monitoring = zero pathways to a bomb.”

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In an ad from last week — broadcast on national television and on local networks — the organization said the deal would result in unprecedented inspections on Iran’s nuclear program. The ad concludes with the statement: “It’s good for America, good for Israel, and makes both countries safer and more secure.”

J Street officials said they would continue their campaign all through the summer, until Congress decides on the matter. If opponents of the deal secure a two-thirds majority in both chambers, the White House will be prevented from lifting U.S. sanctions on Iran.

The group plans to bring to Washington Israeli and American defense experts who support to the deal so that they can brief U.S. lawmakers on their views before the vote. These experts will likely be former Shin Bet security agency head Ami Ayalon, former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy, former head of the Israel Defense Forces Operations Directorate Israel Ziv and renowned nuclear scientist and former MK Uzi Even, whose previous remarks in favor of the deal have been incorporated into a J Street publication called “Organizational Support for Framework Agreement.”

When U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, he cited these same former Israeli officials to make the case for the deal. When he was accused of being naive he showed the panel an article he had printed, saying, “This is an article from The Washington Post, I urge you all to read it, it’s called ‘How the Iran deal is good for Israel, according to Israelis who know what they are talking about.'”

He then began to quote from it: “It says here a host of prominent members of the country’s security establishment … support the Obama administration’s efforts. In an interview with the Daily Beast, Ami Ayalon … suggested Israel’s politicians were playing with fears in a fearful society he praised the Vienna agreement as a useful measure to curb the Iranian threat. I don’t think he is naive. Efraim Halevy … hailed Obama’s victory.”

On Friday, Halevy told Channel 2 that he was very surprised that Kerry mentioned him during the hearing. “The agreement has several provisions that are very good for Israel, but it also has provisions that are not so good,” he said. Halevy said the Iranians will likely try to deceive the West, and that the only question is “where and when.” He added that it would take three or four years before we can render a verdict on the agreement noting that the inspections and monitoring it stipulated “have flaws.” He added that the agreement essentially “paves the way for Iran’s nuclearlization in 10 to 15 years.”

View original Israel Hayom publication at: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=27135