Iran Deal: 340 (Liberal) Rabbis Back Obama

On Monday, 340 liberal rabbis offered their support to the Iran deal in a letter to Congress.

The word “liberal” has been omitted from media headlines, creating the impression that Jewish religious authorities support President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, against a plurality of American Jews and the overwhelming majority of Israeli Jews.

In fact, the nation’s largest rabbinical organizations oppose the Iran deal, and announced their opposition last month, though the mainstream media has chosen to focus on the dissident rabbis’ support.

The rabbis supporting the deal are represented by Ameinu, which describes itself as a “national, multi-generational community of progressive Jews in North America.” Its goal is to “build support within the North American Jewish community for a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Its slogan is “liberal values, progressive Israel.” So it is firmly, proudly on the political left.

One month ago, the Orthodox Union and the Rabbinical Council of America issued their own statement: “Will the proposed agreement protect the security of the United States, Israel and our other allies? By this standard, we have found the deal with Iran seriously wanting and will mobilize our member rabbis and synagogues throughout the nation to urge Congress to fulfill their mandate and disapprove the agreement.”

The Rabbinical Council of America alone includes nearly 1000 rabbis–three times the number of Ameinu signatories.

Only a minority of American Jews are Orthodox, but growing opposition to the Iran deal extends across the whole Jewish community.