MetroWest delegates, from left, Gideon Aronoff, Max Kleinman, David Lentz, Elihu Davidson, and Jim Daniels on Capitol Hill at the Jewish Leadership Advocacy Day on Iran.
Photos by Melanie Roth Gorelick
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September 16, 2009
Local Jewish leaders joined an intense lobbying effort in Washington last week, joining some 300 colleagues in winning bipartisan congressional support for strengthening sanctions against Iran.
Gathering on Capitol Hill, they received assurances from Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, that it was time to “begin the process of tightening the screws on Tehran.”
Berman, a California Democrat, was one of seven House members who met with representatives from 30 Jewish communities Sept. 10 in what was billed as National Jewish Leadership Advocacy Day on Iran.
Their goal: to prevent the Iranian government from acquiring and possibly using nuclear weapons.
The centerpiece of the lobbying effort was urging legislators to support passage of the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act.
The bill would strengthen sanctions aimed at both the Iranian government and the international business community. It would empower the White House to discourage foreign investments in Iran, penalize companies that trade with the Iranian oil industry, and impose sanctions on the country’s central bank and “any other Iranian financial institution engaged in proliferation activities or support of terrorist groups.”
Berman said he expects his committee to take quick action on the bill next month. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Maryland) said he would steer it on a fast track toward passage by Congress.
“The clock is ticking,” said Max Kleinman, executive vice president of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ — one of 11 delegates from the MetroWest federation.
“The longer we delay on giving the president the tools to implement crippling sanctions if necessary, the closer Iran will be to weaponizing the enriched uranium at its disposal,” he said.
After meeting with members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, Kleinman said, he was “gratified at the overall support of our position on this issue by the delegation and administration officials.”
“Time will soon run out,” said UJC MetroWest president Gary Aidekman. “Now is the time to give the president the tools to apply pressure, and now is the time for those tools to be used. I fear that not too far in the future we may hear the regret, ‘If only we had acted sooner.’”
The lobbying effort was intended as a show of Jewish solidarity around the Iran issue, coming just two weeks before a large rally planned for Sept. 24 to protest Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s appearance before the UN General Assembly (see sidebar).
But not all Jewish groups were on board with supporting the sanctions bill.
Americans for Peace Now and the lobbying group J Street are wary of timetables and overly strict sanctions. “Crippling sanctions” could give “the Iranian authorities a pretext to discredit and further persecute critics and protesters,” APN warned, “and make the lives of the Iranian people more difficult.”
Without naming any groups, Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice president of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, criticized those in the Jewish community “who seek to get attention by sowing discord on the Iran issue.”
“We need to put aside our differences and stand together,” Hoenlein said, moderating a panel discussion in Washington that included leaders of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, and B’nai B’rith International.
MetroWest Community Relations Committee chair David Lentz said the Jewish community must “keep the pressure on Washington and the administration over Iran, its response to the world’s concerns, and the dangers Iran represents.”
Two key Obama administration figures, Dennis Ross, an official with the National Security Council, and William Burns, assistant secretary of state for political affairs, briefed the Jewish leaders in an off-the-record session at Washington’s Sixth & I Historic Synagogue.
Several in attendance reported that the two men stressed that the engagement process with Iran is “not open-ended” and that they had “no illusions” about the Iranian government.
Neither Burns nor Ross said whether the administration supports passage of the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act, according to attendees.
But on Capitol Hill, key House Republicans are siding with Democrats on the legislation. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) said the bill would “hit the Iranians where they are most vulnerable — namely, their ability to purchase refined gasoline products.”
House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) said toughened sanctions “will send a real signal to the world community and to Iran that the United States means business.”
Hoyer sought to dispel the impression that a nuclear-armed Iran was primarily a “Jewish issue.” Referring to United States troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said that “250,000 Americans are within range of Iranian weaponry.”
In the past, strategists in the Jewish community have sought to involve human rights and anti-nuclear activists in a coalition effort aimed at defusing Iran’s nuclear program.
Abe Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the issue presents a “Catch-22” for Jewish activists.
“We do not have the luxury to not lead” on Iran, he said, but in taking the lead, some may dismiss the threat as just a Jewish issue.
Still, Foxman said, “the job will have to be done beyond the Jewish community,” and “we have to lead even though it will be perceived as a Jewish issue.”
The advocacy day was organized by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Iran, which is led by the Presidents Conference, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, UJC/Federations of North America, and NCSJ: Advocates on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia.
With reporting from JTA in Washington
Stand for Freedom in Iran Rally
Jim Daniels is urging people to attend the Stand for Freedom in Iran Rally in Manhattan on Thursday, Sept. 24. It is one of the steps they can take, he said, “to make the world a safer place.”
Daniels, who was born in Iran, is chair of the Task Force on Iran of the Community Relations Committee of MetroWest. Speaking at the end of the Drew University panel discussion on Iran, he said that a year from now, given Iran’s apparent progress toward weapons capability, it could be “on the brink” of having nuclear bombs, and serious steps would have to be taken to deal with that threat.
“Let us avoid getting to that point,” he said. “Fortunately, our voices here can’t be suppressed.”
He encouraged audience members to support efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear program. Specifically, he said, they could support disinvestment from companies doing business with Iran’s oil sector and could take such action as writing legislators to urge support of the passage of the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanction Act, to further efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.
What: Stand for Freedom in Iran Rally
Where: Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 47th Street and Second Avenue
When: Thursday, Sept. 24, noon
The demonstration calling for furthering human rights in Iran is being organized by a coalition of national Jewish organizations to coincide with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s address to the UN General Assembly.
A bus will take demonstrators to New York, departing from the Aidekman campus in Whippany at 9:30 a.m. and the Cooperman JCC campus in West Orange at 10. A $10 donation per person is requested. To reserve a seat, contact Jane Gardner at 973-929-3064 or jgardner@ujcnj.org.
Information: Visit www.standforfreedominiran.org or contact 212-983-4800, ext. 152, or info@standforfreedominIran.org. Information on Iran Advocacy Month can be found at www.ujcnj.org/stopiran.
Among the delegates
Members of the House of Representatives who met with delegates taking part in the Jewish Leadership Advocacy Day on Iran were Rep. Howard Berman (D-Cal.), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.)
Among the national Jewish leaders in attendance were Howard Kohr, executive director, America Israel Public Affairs Committee; David Harris, executive director, American Jewish Committee; Abraham Foxman, national director, Anti-Defamation League; Daniel Mariaschin, executive vice president, B’nai B’rith International; and Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chair, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
The 40 members of New Jersey’s delegation to the Jewish Leadership Advocacy Day on Iran included Jacob Toporek, executive director of the New Jersey State Association of Jewish Federations; Joy Kurland, Community Relations Committee regional director; United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ leaders Gary Aidekman, president; Steve and Lori Klinghoffer, both past presidents; Max Kleinman, executive vice president; David Lentz, chair of the Community Relations Committee; Gideon Aronoff, CRC board member and president of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society; Melanie Roth Gorelick, CRC regional director; and Elihu Davison, former CRC board member.
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