Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged French President Emmanuel Macron to intervene to amend the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, Arab News reports. On the other hand, leaders of the Jewish Israeli Lobby in the U.S. welcomed President Donald Trump’s decision to proceed with the nuclear deal and to impose additional sanctions on Iran.
Netanyahu’s spokesperson said that his phone call with Macron came a day after Trump demanded that European partners work with Washington to “fix the deal’s disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw.” In his conversation with Macron, Netanyahu said that “Trump’s remarks should be taken seriously, and whoever wants to keep the nuclear deal would be wise to fix it.”
He also told Macron that the free world should “strongly condemn the five crimes of the Iranian regime,” listing “efforts to obtain nuclear weapons, developing ballistic missiles, supporting terror, regional aggression and the cruel repression of Iranian citizens.”
In the same context, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) said Saturday it appreciates Washington imposing additional sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities, as well as Trump’s efforts to address the shortcomings of the nuclear deal with Tehran.
“AIPAC appreciates the Trump administration’s decision today to sanction additional individuals and entities that support Iran’s illicit activities and violations of human rights. We continue to urge the administration and the Congress to work together to implement a comprehensive, bipartisan strategy that encounters Iran’s malign behavior and ensure that it will never be able to acquire nuclear weapons,” added the statement.
AIPAC demanded to apply additional pressure on the Iranian regime to end its regional aggression, illicit ballistic missile program and suppression of the rights of its citizens. AIPAC also expressed appreciation for the Trump administration’s efforts to address the deal’s “shortcomings,” and called on America’s European allies to help fix the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
Though AIPAC staunchly opposed the deal during the negotiations, it has not publicly addressed Trump’s threat to pull out of the accord.
Meanwhile, J Street, the liberal pro-Israel lobby that backed the deal, strongly denounced Trump for “recklessly” putting the U.S. “on a path to a new nuclear crisis and isolation on the world stage.” A statement from J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami called on members of Congress and “any responsible officials remaining inside the administration” to take steps “to reverse this decision and prevent this disastrous policy from being carried out.”