MIRSKY: On the Iran Deal, Give Peace a Chance

Jimmy Carter, former United States President, is gravely ill right now and it is time to give him praise for the greatest accomplishment of his life, so that he will hear and know that we appreciate what he has done for humanity before he leaves this world.

Carter facilitated the agreement between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, which resulted in Israel returning of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt and which also resulted in a significant and lasting cessation of hostility between Israel and the largest most powerful most important country in the Arab World, Egypt.

Those of you in Israel, and supporters of Israel in the United States, who are opposed to the Iran Deal, should think and reflect on Carter’s great accomplishment before you exert any more energy trying to defeat President Barack Obama’s attempt to bring a measure of civility and stability to the relationship between the United States and Iran.

Iran is an undeniably important player in the Middle East equation. I agree with many that Iran currently needs to do more to demonstrate overtly that it desires peace with its neighbors. But we need to be realistic about all of this. Israel cannot benefit by increased tension between the United States and Iran. Israel is a powerful and important ally, but it is also one nation among many in a very distressed region of the world. There is bitterness and hostility in that area. The path of continued or increased hostility is not a path that will benefit Israel in any way. Israel’s supporters in the United States would not be helping Israel by preventing Obama from achieving a cessation of overt hostility between the United States and Iran.

There is a long history between the United States and Iran. In November of 1979, I was living in Manhattan, at the time that the Iranian Students took over the United States Embassy in Tehran. I was fortunate enough to meet some Iranian graduate students who were studying in New York at that time. The Iranian students I met were very much acclimated to American culture. They understood American politics and they enjoyed American culture and liked the American people. These students expressed that in the 1970s, the Iranian people in Tehran looked upon the U.S. Embassy as a place where the CIA was in control and worked to support the government headed by the Shah of Iran, who was and remains a notorious figure in Iranian history. I am telling you about this not to criticize American actions in any way, but to let you know that there are two sides to the story of Iran’s hostility towards the United States. That is something that realistic people should understand and recognize.

So I ask you, before you decide whether to support or oppose President Obama’s deal with Iran to limit Iran’s weapon-making capabilities, to just at least read the Iran Deal. It is available on this link.

And I would ask you to consider the words of Vietnam Veteran, now U.S. Secretary of State, John F. Kerry, on this matter:

“Years ago when I left college, I went to war. And I learned in war the price that is paid when diplomacy fails. And I made a decision that if I ever was lucky enough to be in a position to make a difference, I would try to do so. I believe this agreement actually represents an effort by the United States of America and all of its colleagues in the P5+1 to come together with Iran to avert an inevitability of conflict that would come were we not able to reach agreement. I think that’s what diplomacy was put in place to achieve, and I know that war is the failure of diplomacy and the failure of leaders to make alternative decisions.” — U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry