Reuven Solomon
Forest Hills, NY
Selling The Iran Deal (II)
Kudos for your May 13 front-page story on how the citizens of America were duped into accepting the Iran deal foisted upon them by President Obama and his “mindmeld” aide Ben Rhodes, as well as your editorial in the same issue about Netanyahu having been right about that deal.
Although Rhodes, in the David Samuels interview published in the May 8 New York Times Magazine, proclaims that journalists were so ignorant they were ready to accept anything the White House fed them, I believe Jewish Press readers know that not everyone was fooled. In New York, there were ongoing efforts by many of us to stop the deal.
I was arrested, along with Assemblyman Dov Hikind, outside the offices of New York senators Schumer and Gillibrand while protesting against the agreement. It was July 2015 and we were urging our Democratic senators to say no to a deal that was obviously being fed to the American people with total contempt for them and for the truth. The message was manipulated and contrived to deliberately deceive the public. My congressman, Jerry Nadler, had already fallen into lockstep with the administration.
As Americans concerned about our beloved country and Jews concerned with the welfare of Israel, we applauded when Prime Minister Netanyahu came to the UN to explain the dangers of the deal. If only the world had listened.
Although Schumer said “no” to the deal, he made no effort to convince his fellow Democrats to join him. If only Schumer and Gillibrand and other Democrats had followed the example of New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez and put their country’s interests first.
I joined with thousands in Times Square to protest the deal. We tried desperately to make our voices heard. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful. Now that the truth is out, we ask our elected officials and the American public, “What do you plan to do about it?”
Helen Freedman
Executive Director
Americans for a Safe Israel/AFSI