President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented dueling messages to the American Jewish community Tuesday amidst a roiling debate on the Iran nuclear deal.
Both sides are trying to appeal for support from the key group of voters as members of Congress decide whether to back the deal ahead of a vote on the issue in mid-September.
The pressure has ratcheted up this week as Congress heads into its August recess, with several key senators coming out in favor of the deal and several House members saying they oppose it.
At the same time, House Republicans unveiled a resolution to block the President’s nuclear deal, which — if it passes and gets enough support to override a veto — would effectively kill the international deal.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida and Sen. Barbara Boxer of California officially endorsed the agreement on Thursday, a welcome development for the White House as it continues its full-court press in the face of what appears to be virtually unanimous GOP opposition.
But several Democratic House members, who are Jewish themselves and represent heavily Jewish constituencies, also came out against the agreement.
New York Rep. Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, New York Rep. Nita Lowey, ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Florida Rep. Ted Deutch, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Middle East subcommittee, all said they wouldn’t support the deal.
Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Andre Carson of Indiana, who is on the intelligence committee, announced his support.
However, many key Democrats — notably, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, who is poised to become the Democratic leader in the next session of Congress — have not yet announced which way they will vote.
To bolster domestic support for the agreement, Obama personally lobbied Jewish American groups to back the agreement during an afternoon White House meeting.
The White House refused to release a list of participants ahead of time, but many of the expected attendees also heard from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier Tuesday during a webcast speech to Jewish organizations. The Anti-Defamation League, Orthodox Union and J Street were among the groups attending the White House meeting.
In his speech, Netanyahu repeated his dire warnings that the deal would imperil Israel and the wider Middle East.
“The nuclear deal with Iran doesn’t block Iran’s path to the bomb, it actually paves Iran’s path to the bomb,” Netanyahu said in his presentation, which was sponsored by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and broadcast to synagogues and community centers around the country.
The deal, Netanyahu claimed, “gives Iran two paths to the bomb: Iran can get to the bomb by keeping the deal, or Iran could get to the bomb by violating the deal.”
In his session with Jewish leaders, Obama hoped to counter that argument in “direct, blunt” terms, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said on Tuesday.
But Earnest indicated the White House session was not arranged specifically to rebut Netanyahu.
“The Prime Minister has ample opportunity to make clear what his views are and he has taken advantage of that opportunity,” Earnest said. “The President believes it is in the national security interests of our closest ally in the region, Israel, to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapons through diplomacy.”
However, the administration did use its Twitter account dedicated to the deal to post live “fact checks” during Netanyahu’s address. One read, “FACT: Walking away from the Iran deal pushes Iran closer to a nuke and sparks a regional arms race.”
The White House also used another social media site, Medium, to post the text from the Iran nuclear deal, and on Monday night briefed visiting Israel journalists.
The outreach suggests the White House sees responding to Israel’s criticism as pivotal to winning votes on Capitol Hill.
The administration is hoping the latest public endorsements by Democratic senators give it momentum going into Congress’ summer recess, when opponents are vowing to ramp up pressure on members in their districts.
Democrats who haven’t announced their position are being pressured the most. Among them, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland is traveling this week with a group of Democratic members to Israel, where they will hear Israeli officials’ concerns directly.
Another key leader, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, is also declining to say how he will vote, noting Tuesday that he doesn’t have to decide until next month.
Reid’s reluctance to officially weigh in may be an effort to give some space to Schumer, who is perhaps the most pivotal of the remaining undecided Democrats and faces enormous pressure as the most senior Jewish member in leadership.
Schumer told reporters on Tuesday that he is still studying the deal and repeated his mantra that, “I’m not going to let pressure or politics or party influence my decision.”
Both chambers need to vote by Sept. 17, and Republicans, who control both the House and Senate, already say they have the votes to pass a resolution of disapproval.
The president has vowed to veto it, so the critical vote will be on overriding his veto. If every Republican supports the override, 44 Democrats in the House and 13 in the Senate would be needed to block it.
When pressed on whether he thought there would be enough Democrats voting to uphold the deal, Reid said, “I don’t know. Time will only tell.”
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, who supports the nuclear agreement and is counting votes, refused to give out numbers but said things look “positive.”
Several undecided Democrats tell CNN they intend to take most if not all of the entire 60 days they have under a legislated review period to make up their minds.
Many with vocal constituent groups on both sides said they don’t see any incentive to come out publicly until they digest all of the information. They also want to see whether Iranian leaders make any additional comments about their commitment to implementing the deal.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he hoped there would be “a thorough, thoughtful and respectful debate” in September. He told reporters he wanted to set aside time for each senator to make a speech on the deal and said he hoped that all senators would listen from their seats on the floor and suspend any committee business during the debate.
In anticipation of the vote, many Jewish groups, led by the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee, are lobbying against the deal, pouring millions of dollars into ad campaigns claiming the plan threatens Israel’s safety.
AIPAC and its affiliates are planning to spend upwards of $20 million on the effort, much of it aimed at lawmakers on the fence.
On the other side, the dovish J Street released a new TV ad Tuesday in support of the deal, part of a $5 million advocacy campaign.
As part of the administration’s pushback, Obama will also deliver remarks at American University in Washington on Wednesday detailing the advantages of pursuing diplomacy with Iran.
The White House has drawn a comparison to a 1963 commencement speech delivered by President John F. Kennedy at the same institution, in which he advocated for diplomatic talks with the Soviet Union.
