Iranian nukes, Cotton’s letter and Boteach

Greg Rosenbaum — March 11, 2015 – 9:38 am | Barack Obama | Congress | Democrats | Foreign Policy | Iran | Israel | Republicans Comments (0) Add a comment

As we draw closer to the March 24 deadline for Iran negotiations, NJDC has been on the front lines in working to support President Obama, Secretary Kerry and diplomatic efforts to ensure that Iran is prevented from obtaining a nuclear weapon. It has been a particularly busy few weeks, and I’d like to take a moment to brief you on our recent activities.

 

In advance of the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, DC, we advertised a graphic on our social media channels that quickly reached a massive audience. The graphic, which contained the text “Stop Iranian Nukes. Support Talks. Keep All Options on the Table.”, reached nearly 42,000 people on Facebook. There were 2,285 total “actions” on the ad, meaning the number of people who liked, commented, shared or clicked on the post. Those numbers include a total of 1,851 likes and 373 shares, reaching the largest audience NJDC has had on a single social media post in recent memory. While at the Policy Conference, I and others passed out buttons reading “Proud Pro-Israel Dem,” promoting our message and our organization. If you’re interested in a button of your own, let me know!

 

Additionally, NJDC has been out in front in the media, pushing our message that nuclear negotiators must be given the space and time needed to succeed. Ahead of Policy Conference, we were quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post and CNN, discussing the importance of allowing negotiations to take place and protecting the U.S.-Israel relationship from inappropriate partisan politics. We further joined Jewish organizations from across the spectrum in condemning Rabbi Shmuley Boteach for his disgusting ad on National Security Advisor Susan Rice, as well as in criticizing our counterparts at the Republican Jewish Coalition for failing to do the same. These efforts drew press attention from the Jerusalem Post and many other outlets. Following the addresses delivered by Rice and UN Ambassador Samantha Power, we again applauded these great officials for their commitment to the U.S.-Israel relationship.

 

Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a Joint Meeting of Congress last week, NJDC issued a statement reaffirming our support for diplomatic talks, while thanking the Prime Minister for recognizing all that President Obama and his administration have done to ensure Israel’s safety and security. We further criticized House Speaker John Boehner for unnecessarily inserting partisan politics into the U.S.-Israel relationship, and firmly stated that we support diplomatic negotiations with Iran at this time. This position gained further press attention, including in the Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel and Arutz Sheva.

 

And just yesterday, 47 Senate Republicans, led by Tom Cotton (R-AR), greatly overstepped their boundaries by sending a letter to Iranian officials aimed at sabotaging diplomatic negotiations. NJDC issued a release sharply criticizing the letter, stating that “never before have dozens of members of Congress written the leaders of a foreign government with the intent to undermine the president of the United States.” Already, we have seen the release picked up by The Times of Israel and other outlets and reporters.

 

In the weeks and months ahead, we will continue to support our president and pressure those who would attempt to politicize the relationship between the United States and Israel. We look forward to working with all of you to further our efforts as we move forward not just on these important issues, but on so many others we all share, as we draw closer to the 2016 election.

 

Best,

 

Greg Rosenbaum

Chairman, NJDC Board of Directors

 

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