WASHINGTON (JTA) — Tony Blinken, the deputy to Secretary of State John Kerry, will replace him in a keynote address to the American Jewish Committee’s annual Washington conference.
Kerry was to have addressed the AJC’s Global Forum on June 8, but has been waylaid by a broken leg.
Blinken will address the AJC weeks before the June 30 deadline for a nuclear deal between the major powers and Iran.
The Israeli government and a number of pro-Israel groups, including the AJC, have expressed concerns that the emerging sanctions relief for nuclear rollback deal is too generous to the Iranian regime.
Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer, who has been an outspoken opponent of the Iran deal, will address the global forum on the afternoon of June 8, several hours after Blinken’s speech.
