An AIPAC letter aimed at keeping Biden from returning to the Iran deal got only 43 signatures, which shows that Biden has the political capital he needs to reenter the deal. But he has shown a timidity, born of attacks by the rightwing Israel lobby, and won’t even lift sanctions for humanitarian purposes related to the pandemic, as he urged Donald Trump to do a year ago.
Former Obama national security aide Ben Rhodes says the Israel lobby uses money to get its way in Congress. “Members would call me at the beginning of the August recess in 2015, when we’re having the Iran [deal] fight, and be like, AIPAC put out a press release saying they’re going to spend $40 million on ads on this. The money issue became acute. And people started to say, AIPAC told me they’d cancel my fundraisers if I vote this way. We’re never supposed to name the issue of money. But when AIPAC is threatening people that they’re going to cancel fundraisers, suddenly you’re having that conversation.”
Trump is trying to tie Biden’s hands against returning to Iran deal with “spider web” of sanctions that Democratic hawks won’t reverse, says Sina Toossi of National Iranian American Council. And Israel may take it into its own hands to try to kill the deal in the transition period. “I’m worried that Israel and Saudi Arabia might view the rhetoric from the Trump administration as a green light for Israel to launch a strike on Iran,” Toossi says.
Occupy AIPAC protesters gather near the White House during the Obama-Netanyahu meeting (Photo: Paul E.…