For Immediate Release
For More Information: Gideon Aronoff, Gideon@Ameinu.net
(New York, April 3, 2015) Ameinu, North America’s largest grassroots progressive Zionist organization, today released the following statement responding to the announcement of a framework agreement for a comprehensive plan to restrict the Iranian nuclear program and prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Ameinu applauds the deep commitment of the United States government and its international allies in the P5+1 process to negotiate an agreement with Iran that would limit its nuclear program and prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons. If this framework can be expanded into a fully developed plan, scheduled to be completed by June, we believe that the security of the United States, Israel and the entire world will be greatly enhanced.
While Ameinu would have preferred for Iran to eliminate all of its nuclear activities, if the framework can be transformed into a binding agreement with the deeply intrusive inspections that are envisioned, we believe this is a significantly better outcome than the alternatives of war or continued sanctions — both of which would likely result in the loss of current international coalition with China, Russia and the Europeans.
As Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amos Yadlin, formerly the head of Israel’s military intelligence has declared, “…we would have been happy if not a single centrifuge were to remain in Iran, and if possible, had it also been possible to change the ayatollahs’ regime. But none of these are achievable objects. Let’s think: After all, even a US attack will not distance Iran for 15 years from a nuclear bomb, so why not freeze it in place for the same time — without a war?” Iranian-Israeli Meir Javedanfar of the Herzlia Interdisciplinary Center reinforced this viewpoint commenting, “…looking at the details of the agreed framework deal, this definitely looks like a good framework deal for the security of the state of Israel. There are many reasons, but just one is that Iran will be required to grant access to the IAEA to investigate suspicious sites or allegations of a covert enrichment facility, conversion facility, centrifuge production facility, or yellowcake production facility anywhere in the country.”
Ameinu has worked to help build a strong and secure Israel for 100+ years and is aware of the special dangers Iranian nuclear weapons pose for Israeli security. We share these concerns. For this reason we concur with Israeli Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog who declared, “In the near term we must work closely with the world powers, especially the United States to roll back the Iranian nuclear program and prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. Additionally, we must do everything to end Iran’s long-term support of terrorist organizations around the world. Restoration of relations with the US is the most important tool for maintaining the security interests of Israel and the region.”
While the framework goes far in laying out the structure of a good deal on the Iranian nuclear issues, it does not address many of Iran’s other dangerous actions in the Middle East and around the world. Ameinu supports Israel, the United States and the international community in continuing the fight against Iran’s support for terrorism, expansionist goals in the region and threatening actions towards Israel.
Ultimately, while much work needs to be done to create a verifiable program to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons, this crucial first step is cause for optimism. Ameinu looks forward to supporting our friends in the U.S. and Israeli governments, as well as other partners, to continue to advocate for the success of this diplomatic process.
