Edith Everett’s recent Opinion column, “Why The Iran Deal Makes Sense” (April 17), is a levelheaded perspective on the Iran nuclear deal and an all-too-rare exposition of the prevailing opinion within the American Jewish community.
I am dismayed to read slanderous online comments about her essay that unfairly attacked Ms. Everett as anti-Israel for writing in support of the framework agreement. Ms. Everett’s critics seem to base their accusations on the premise that all Israelis have one opinion on the issue — Prime Minister Netanyahu’s opinion — despite the fact that Netanyahu’s party received fewer than a quarter of the votes in the recent election. While prevailing Israeli public opinion might incline toward the hawkish, many of Israel’s most influential security, intelligence, and military officials have positions more closely resembling Ms. Everett’s than those of the prime minister.
The chief architect of Israel’s Iran policy, former Mossad director Meir Dagan, has publicly denounced the bellicose content of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to the U.S. Congress. Likewise, Amos Yadlin, the former head of Israeli military intelligence, says the proposed nuclear deal isn’t a bad one. They and others, including former Mossad director Efraim Halevy, have pleaded openly to give U.S. diplomatic efforts a reasonable chance to curb Iran’s nuclear aspirations.
So thank you, Ms. Everett, for making the persuasive pro-Israel case for supporting President Obama, whose record as a champion of Israel’s true security is unsurpassed.
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