Biden Tells Jewish Leaders Nuclear Deal Would Help US to Fight More Accurate War Against Iran
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by Eliezer Sherman
Vice President Joe Biden. Photo: Maxine Dovere.
The U.S. would be able to wage a much more effective war against Iran under the terms of the nuclear deal struck last week, Vice President Joe Biden told Jewish leaders in a phone conference on Monday.
“Whatever damage we could inflict now … our ability to inflict even greater damage, which is more a dissuading element than even exists now, is in the pocket of this president for the next 18 months and every successive president after that,” touted Biden, in a recording published by Jewish Insider.
The Vice President was facing a tough audience with many Jewish leaders suspicious that the Iran deal has left Israel out to dry and made the U.S. more vulnerable to the whims of a nuclear-fueled Tehran.
Biden said Obama had “not taken military force off the table,” and said under the terms of the deal the U.S. will have much greater intelligence to “go take out the physical facilities and, if need be, go to war” in “two, five, ten, fifteen years” than it does now.
The vice president called on Jewish leaders to give the deal “an even chance.”
“Obviously if you think it’s not in America’s interest, not in Israel’s interest, I understand if you say you won’t support it but look at it really hard, look at the facts. This is complicated thing, but when you look at the facts, when you cut all the political wheeling and dealing aside, this is a solid, solid, very strong agreement that makes Israel safer, makes us safer, makes the region safer,” he said.
Meanwhile in Israel, former Shin Bet chief Admiral (res.) Ami Ayalon said the nuclear deal was the best option at the moment, because it appeared to increase Iran’s breakout time to 12 months, from the figure of about three months tossed about by various senior Israeli and U.S. officials.
Ayalon criticized many in Israel for failing to distinguish between reducing Iran’s nuclear capabilities diplomatically and Iran being “the biggest devil” in the Middle East, which is a phrase Iran often reserves for the U.S. (“the great Satan”).
