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May 11, 2018
Earlier this week, President Trump announced that the United States is withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, a/k/a the “Iran Deal”).
Norpac strongly opposed the JCPOA at the time it was reached in 2015 because, among other things, (a) it did not, as its supporters asserted, cut off all of Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon, (b) it did not address Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism, (c) many of the constraints the agreement imposed on Iran’s nuclear program will sunset in eight years, (d) it failed to include any ability to respond to low level breaches by Iran of the deal (of which there have been many), (e) it lacked inspections at military sites, (f) it allowed Iran to continue its research into more advanced centrifuges and (g) it failed to prohibit development of ballistic missiles, whose primary purpose is to deliver nuclear bombs.
We applaud President Trump for seeking to address these issues and reach a multilateral agreement to fix these and other problems with the JCPOA. We also applaud his pointing out the obvious: that the JCPOA has seemed to encourage Iran’s support of terrorists and murderous regimes, rather than causing it to moderate its behavior.
In the post-JCPOA world, we hope that the President restarts negotiations with our allies soon with the aim of both reaching a multilateral agreement that addresses both the nuclear issue and Iran’s malign regional aggression.
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NORPAC Proudly Sponsors:
Congressman Steny Hoyer
(D-MD)  Hosted by:
Shari & Nathan Lindenbaum Teaneck, NJ
Sunday, April 22nd RSVP Required
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| Event Chairs Nathan & Shari Lindenbaum Phil & Rochelle Goldschmiedt Ben & Esther Chouake Bob & Sarah Goodman Leonard & Chana Grunstein Tim & Ria Levart Ezra & Miriam Lightman Allen & Miriam Pfeiffer
Event Co-Chairs
About Steny Hoyer Shari & Nathan Lindenbaum welcome back Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD) to an event at their home in Teaneck on April 22nd. Rep. Hoyer, the Democratic Whip in the House of Representatives, is a great friend of Israel whose legendary trips there have educated hundreds of House members about the importance of the US-Israel relationship. As House Democratic Whip for the 115th Congress, Congressman Hoyer is the second-ranking member of the House Democratic Leadership. He is charged with mobilizing the party vote on important legislation, acting as a liaison between Members and the Democratic Leadership, and coordinating strategy within the Caucus. He also plays a key role in shaping House Democrats’ legislative priorities and in delivering the Democratic message. On Iran and Syria, Rep. Hoyer stated this year that “Iran has used the conflict in Syria to establish a forward base of terror against Israel and support those who are committed to destroying the Jewish State – a goal Iran’s leaders have stated clearly and repeatedly. Americans stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Israel as that country legitimately defends itself against threats from Iran or anyone else. It is a reminder of why a political solution to the civil conflict in Syria must not allow for any Iranian presence there from which it can terrorize Israel’s civilian population.” On the President’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital, Hoyer said: “Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel, something that the United States Congress has reaffirmed and a fact of history that cannot be denied. Our country must play a constructive role in supporting Israel as it seeks the peace and security its people deserve by continuing to promote a two-state solution through direct, bilateral negotiations that will end any question of Jerusalem’s status.” Please join us in support of Congressman Steny Hoyer and share your concerns about the US-Israel relationship with him at this pro-Israel event. |
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Please contact Avi Schranz at avi@norpac.net for more information about this event.
Please contact Avi Schranz at avi@norpac.net for more information about this event.
Dear Friends,
On behalf of the NORPAC membership and its officers, we applaud the leadership of President Donald Trump in his announcement anticipated this afternoon recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the American embassy to that capital. This action fulfills the commitment made by Congress in the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, a legislative effort that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
This move sends a strong message to the international community that Israel and the Jewish people have a legitimate and long-standing history and bond with the city of Jerusalem, a city that to this day allows a level of religious freedom found nowhere else in the Middle East. We strongly believe that recognition of the objective truth – that, beginning three thousand years ago, Jerusalem has been the capital of all Jewish states – will in the long run make peace more, rather than less, likely. The President’s announcement also reinforces to the world that America and the current President keeps its promises.
We congratulate Congress for the legislation that made this move possible as well as those in the Administration who have helped to make this move a reality: Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, Ambassador David Friedman, Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and most of all President Donald Trump.
We look forward to the embassy relocation scheduled to take place six months from now, and once again express our gratitude to the Administration for this very important and meaningful action.
God bless America, its great people, and its valiant leadership.
Sincerely,
Ben Chouake, MD (Dr. Ben)
NORPAC National President
Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY) will be joining us for a NORPAC Teaneck event at the home of Phil & Rochelle Goldschmiedt on Sunday morning, November 12th.
Eliot Engel is the Ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He has been one of the leading advocates of the US-Israel relationship for almost three decades in Congress.
Engel often co-introduces pro-Israel legislation with Republican Members in order to keep these issues bipartisan. He co-authored the overwhelmingly-supported H.R.1698 – Iran Ballistic Missiles and International Sanctions Enforcement Act – along with Committee Chairman Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), imposing non-nuclear sanctions on Tehran’s belligerent ballistic missile development program.
Last year, Reps. Royce and Engel, along with 367 other House Members, sent a bipartisan letter to Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, urging him to condemn violence against Israelis and end incitement to violence within the Palestinian Authority.
In 2015, Congressman Engel took a brave stance in opposing the Iran Deal (JCPOA) in the face of great pressure to vote otherwise. He deserves recognition for his vote against this very troubling agreement.
Please join us in support of Congressman Engel, and share your concerns about the US-Israel relationship with him at this event. If you are interested in supporting this event, please contact Avi Schranz at Avi@norpac.net
NORPAC welcomes Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) to an event chaired by Marion & William Weiss and The Gontownik Family in Englewood on September 17th.
Deb Fischer is the senior senator from Nebraska, and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012. In her capacity as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, she is focused on ensuring that our nation has a nuclear deterrent that is modern and effective. This subcommittee also has direct oversight of U.S. Strategic Command, which is located in Nebraska. Fischer is also a member of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s leadership team, serving as counsel to the Majority Leader as well as a member of Senator John Cornyn’s Whip Team.
In January 2013, Senator Deb Fischer, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, traveled to Israel with fellow senators on an official visit to meet with political and military leaders and learn more about the situation in the Middle East. In Israel, the group also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “That is not just a concern for the country of Israel, that is a concern for the United States of America as well,” Fischer says. “And, the prime minister stressed that that what happens in that region of the world has a direct effect on citizens in the United States.”.
In December 2003, Israel banned beef imports from the United States due to a confirmed case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Washington state. Senator Fischer played an instrumental role in lifting this ban.
During a visit by Senator Fischer to Israel in the fall of 2015, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro asked her to work with the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to bring Nebraska beef to Israel. Senator Fischer worked collaboratively with USDA and officials from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture to lift the ban on U.S. beef imports.
If you are interested in supporting this event, please contact Avi Schranz at Avi@norpac.net