An Israeli general, who is among those who wrote an open letter to President Joe Biden calling upon him to abandon a renewed nuclear deal with Iran, has offered an explanation for the Biden administration’s fixation on resuscitating the failed pact: It’s all about Obama.
The open letter, signed in name by 34 retired generals, a Lieutenant Colonel and a Colonel, representing the 5,000 members of the Israel’s Defense and Security Forum contains a stark warning for Biden.
“Despite your administration’s repeated declared commitment to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons, this agreement creates a clear legal pathway for Iran to obtain nuclear weapons by 2031, while denying the signatories of any tools to prevent that eventuality,” the IDSF wrote.
“The deal will unleash a regional nuclear arms race, in which states like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states will seek to either develop or acquire nuclear weapons to mitigate the Iranian threat.”
“The deal will deliver a windfall of previously frozen funds to the Islamic Republic of Iran, funds that will undoubtedly, and as past experience shows, be used to export terror and instability throughout the region and beyond, at an unprecedented scale, with the addition of a future nuclear umbrella as a force multiplier.”
“It remains our view that a credible military threat in combination with crippling economic sanctions and the political resolve to act militarily, if necessary, is the most effective manner to address the Iranian threat,” the Israeli letter concludes before imploring Biden, “As a lifelong true friend of the Jewish People and the State of Israel, we urge you not to jeopardize Israel’s security by enabling Iran to achieve nuclear military capabilities.”
Brigadier General (Ret.) Amir Avivi, Founder and Director of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, analyzed the agreement in an interview with the Israeli News outlet i24, describing it as “a disaster for the whole globe.”
Former Israeli officers urge Biden to nix the Iran nuclear deal
‘It’s a disaster for Israel, it’s a disaster for the Middle East, and it’s a disaster for the whole globe,’ @Amir_Avivi of @HabithonistimEn tells @calev_i24. pic.twitter.com/VOjKyYLQpd
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) September 1, 2022
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Avivi also offered his opinion on why the Biden-Harris administration would pursue such an agreement with Iran. “The only reasonable explanation I have is that it has to do with Obama’s legacy,” he said after the letter was published, according to All Israel News.
“This was the number one thing that Obama was trying to push in his presidency. They want to keep this legacy even if it is, in many ways, very problematic.”
Letter sent to Biden from dozens of former Israeli generals urging him to not sign a revived Iran nuclear deal. @HabithonistimEn pic.twitter.com/7VRRqDxDMy
— Joshua Robbin Marks (@JoshMarks78) September 1, 2022
All Israel News asked Avivi if perhaps the Biden Administration or the U.S. intelligence community are seeing something that their Israeli counterparts do not. He replied that he hasn’t found a clear explanation.
“I pride myself when talking about international relations as a guy who is really able to understand the interest behind policies,” Avivi said.
“I understand why Russia invaded Ukraine — from their perspective. I understand what the Chinese are doing. This, frankly, is very hard to understand — why Obama, and now this president, is pushing so hard.”
He explained that the new Iran deal Biden is pursuing is even worse than the original Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, which President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018 after calling it, “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”
At the time, Trump explained that the deal “enriched the Iranian regime and enabled its malign behavior.” He also pointed out that “Iran negotiated the JCPOA in bad faith” and that it gave Tehran far too much for too little.
