Daily Kickoff
EXCLUSIVE — Vice President Joe Biden to Jewish leaders yesterday: “Please do not doubt my commitment to Israel. I have spent too much of life working for Israel’s security and I’m not about to support an agreement — that doesn’t mean you should be for it — but I’m not about to support an agreement that I believe would do harm to Israel… Some of you probably know, I was the bad guy in these ongoing negotiations because I was skeptical. As that old expression goes, I was the skunk at the family picnic because I worried.”
“People ask me, ‘why should the Iranians be able to put the centrifuges into storage?’ Part of the agreement that a lot of people don’t understand — and it’s totally understandable they don’t — is that all other nations have a right to have peaceful nuclear power to turn the lights on. That kind of power only requires low enriched uranium which can’t make a bomb — unless they keep spinning and enriching it. If they meet all the requirements over the next 12 – 15 years, they’ll have proven to the world that they are a responsible nation, and they’re going to be able to have civil nuclear reactors to turn the lights on. The reason they keep them is theoretically when they meet these requirement they can take them out of storage and use them.”
“The President has not taken military force off the table. If they violate the deal, the same options we have now remain on the table. To be able to go take out the physical facilities and, if need be, go to war. The difference is if in two, five, ten, fifteen years they do it — think how much more we’re going to know. Inspectors are in every single nook and cranny of Iran where they’ve done anything in the past or now and we’ll by that time have challenged other sites as well. So whatever damage we could inflict now… our ability to inflict even greater damage, which is more of 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. We’ll be much better able if G-d forbid we have to go to war, we have to use force, to take out whatever they’re doing.”
“I get asked, ‘Joe, let’s assume you’re right about this deal, why are you submitting this deal to the U.N. Security Council now?’ First of all, it doesn’t do anything in terms of suspension for the next 90 days. This is not a U.S. deal, it’s an international community deal. The reason they came to the table is because of international sanctions. No president has ever agreed, since the U.N. was formed, to give to the Congress the right to veto a U.N. resolution. That is an Article 1 power. Everyone knew once the deal was signed it would go to the U.N. and there would be a 90 day review before anything could happen but after 90 days the deal would come into effect and if the Iranians met the conditions, they could, within a year, start getting relief from sanctions knowing they’re temporary and could snap-back.”
“I just hope you’ll give this 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. If they don’t keep the deal, we’ll know it, we can react and we’ll have, over the next 10 years at least, a year’s advance notice for them to be able to do something really bad with nuclear weapons. Thank you all for listening, you’ve been very kind.”
The Vice President’s National Security Advisor Colin Kahl joined the call from Israel, where he’s visiting with Defense Secretary Ash Carter, to answer a few questions. The three questions came from the NJDC’s Marc Stanley, Rabbi Denise Eger, and Rabbi Michael Miller. Full Audio Recording – [JewishInsider] • If you thought being a Jewish leader was easy, try listening to Biden talk on the phone for over an hour straight… • JFNA’s William Daroff met up with the Vice President later in the day at the White House where the two apparently discussed the Iran deal [TwitterPic]
TOP TALKER: “U.N. Moves to Lift Iran Sanctions After Nuclear Deal, Setting Up a Clash in Congress” by Somini Sengupta: “The 15-to-0 vote for approval of the resolution — 104 pages long including annexes and lists — was written in Vienna… The Security Council resolution, which is legally binding, lays out the steps required only for the lifting of United Nations sanctions. It has no legal consequence on the sanctions imposed separately by the United States and the European Union… The European Union also approved the Iran nuclear deal on Monday, putting in motion the lifting of its own sanctions… The U.N. resolution takes effect in 90 days.” [NYTimes]
Prime Minister Netanyahu responds: “This is a day when the U.N. Security Council adopts an agreement with Iran that has violated every U.N. Security Council resolution you could imagine and openly tweets today a video in which it calls for the destruction of a U.N. member state, Israel. That’s a failing on the international scene.” [Facebook]
“Israeli Ambassador Courts Black Lawmakers Ahead of Iran Vote” by John Hudson: “The personal visits by Ron Dermer, a Florida-born diplomat with close personal ties to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are an acknowledgement that Jerusalem’s uncompromising campaign against the Iran deal has frayed relations with African-American lawmakers who view Netanyahu’s tactics — like his March 3 address to Congress — as disrespectful to the first black president.” [ForeignPolicy]
“Booker says he wants to dig into the details on Iran Deal” by Max Pizarro: “I’m studying it and I’m going to dig into the details,” Booker said moments after a press conference here to announce venture fund and accelerator in Newark.” [PolitickerNJ]
“AIPAC spent record $1.7 million as it lobbied Congress to review Iran deal” by Catherine Ho: “The $1.67 million that AIPAC spent so far this year is more than the group has ever spent on direct lobbying during a six-month period — at least in the last 16 years… And it is funneling resources to support Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran, a new 501(c)4 group that is expected to spend around $20 million on advertising and campaigns in up to 40 states.” [WashPost]
60 National Security Leaders, using the name ‘The Iran Project’, congratulate President Obama on “a landmark agreement.” Leaders who signed include Morton Abramowitz, Madeleine Albright, Samuel Berger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Tom Daschle, Carl Levin, George Mitchell, Thomas Pickering, Robert Einhorn, Stuart Eizenstat, Morton Halperin, Leslie Gelb, and others. [Scribd; AP]
Abe Foxman – “Iran nuclear deal built on a lie”: “Why am I choosing to write an article on my last day? It is the same imperative that has motivated me all these years: If I see something troubling to the Jewish people, I cannot be still. I do not believe Congress will be able to fix this deal. But even if it cannot, a congressional ‘no’ and override of a presidential veto would send a number of clear messages.” [JTA]
David Rothkopf: “President Obama Is Wrong–The Iran Deal Is Transformational: The big question is, what is actually being transformed?” [ForeignPolicy]
Bret Stephens: “The Iran deal is supposed to prevent a nuclear-arms race in the Middle East. So what better way to get that ball of hopefulness rolling than by arming our regional allies to the teeth?” [WSJ]
David Suissa: “Should American Jews show solidarity with Israel?” [JewishJournal]
Michael Eisenberg: “Israel is gearing up to push Congress to block the deal. I am not supportive of that approach. I think even a winning vote in Congress would be a pyrrhic victory.” [Medium]
Noah Feldman: “When Congress and Religion Mix” [BloombergView]
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister: “Nuclear deal means Tehran will buy and sell weapons from and to whomever it wants.” [Twitter]
Report: “Iran, Germany to hold major economic conference” by Nasser Karimi: “Closer ties between Iran and Germany will help bridge the gap between Europe and the entire Middle East, Iran’s president said as Iran and Germany announced plans to hold their first joint economic conference in a decade, the official IRNA news agency reported on Monday.” [AP] • “German Vice Chancellor in Iran Seeking to Boost Ties” [WSJ]
–@JeffreyGoldberg: “The idea of Germany running to do business with a country whose rulers seek the eradication of a Jewish country.” [Twitter]
“Iran Deal Could Help U.S. Tech Recruiters” by Robert McMillan: “Mr. Ward, who heads recruiting at the San Francisco social-scrapbooking site Pinterest Inc., believes the deal could make it easier for U.S. technology companies to recruit engineers from Iran, a country of 80 million people that boasts top-notch educational institutions such as Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology.” [WSJ] • “Iranian Startups Embrace Landmark Agreement With U.S.” [TechCrunch]
Polls: “56 percent of people support Obama’s Iran deal. But they don’t think it will work.” [WashPost]
2016 WATCH: “Jeb Bush vs. Scott Walker on Iran” by Eli Stokols: “One thing that I won’t do is just say, as a candidate, ‘I’m going to tear up the agreement on the first day,’” Bush said after criticizing the deal itself before a crowd of 100 people. “That’s great, that sounds great but maybe you ought to check in with your allies first, maybe you ought to appoint a Secretary of State, maybe Secretary of Defense, you might want to have your team in place before you take an act like that.”
“Far from being put on the defensive, Walker’s campaign saw an opening to go after Bush as someone too plodding, in Walker’s view, to be a tough commander in chief. “I believe that a president shouldn’t wait to act until they put a Cabinet together or for a certain period of time,” Walker said on Saturday. “I believe that they should be prepared to act on the very first day they take office.” And Walker went even further, telling reporters he’d be open to authorizing military action against Iran hours after the oath.” [Politico]
“Lindsey Graham and his Two Amigos Kick Off ‘No Nukes for Iran’ Tour” by Emily Greenhouse: “Graham brought along Lieberman, and McCain, two hawkish confrères who both have had their time on national tickets, to help bolster his own bid and quash President Obama’s deal with Iran.” [Bloomberg; NYTimes]
“Following the event, Graham told JP that he recently spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Opposition Leader Isaac Herzog and Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid. “They are all opposed to this deal. They have differences among themselves about who’s responsible, but all three say the same thing: this is a bad deal for Israel; this is a nightmare for Israel,” he said.” [JP]
“Grooveshark cofounder Josh Greenberg is dead at 28, three months after the music service shut down” by Ken Yeung: “Lori Greenberg, his mother, said Monday she was told by police who investigated Sunday night that there was no evidence of injuries or drugs. She told police he had never been sick a day in his life; and his girlfriend, Abby Mayer, said she had never known him to be sick and he was not prescribed any medication, according to a Gainesville Police Department report. Grooveshark provided free streaming of a wide variety music until it ceased operations in April as part of a settlement in a copyright violation lawsuit by major music labels.” [VentureBeat; Quartz; GainesvilleSun]
STARTUP NATION: “How Startup Nation’s Innovation Catalyst Masters The Art Of Public-Private Partnership” by Gil Press: “Imagine you had a machine where you put in a dollar and five dollars come out, sometimes ten,” says Avi Hasson. “We have that machine and it’s called the Office of the Chief Scientist.” After working for ten years as a partner in a venture capital firm, Hasson became four years ago the Chief Scientist at Israel’s Ministry of the Economy. Buttressing this position is a long tradition that has helped turn Israel into a “startup nation,” as the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) has been perfecting the art of public-private partnership since it was created in 1965.” [Forbes]
SPOTLIGHT: “Yaniv Davidson Wants to Monetize Your Ears” by Ralph Gardner Jr.:“Davidson, an engineer by training, has created an app called Tunity that allows you to hold your cellphone up to a TV, scan the picture, and stream the audio through your phone. He said the same could eventually be done with the signs in Times Square… “Right now, this advertisement is a lot of visual noise that advertisers are throwing at us, hoping something will stick,” continued Mr. Davidson, 37 years old and originally from Israel. “What if we could choose to tune into just the thing that interests us?”” [WSJ]
REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP: “Steven Spielberg sells Malibu compound off-market for $26 million” [LATimes; Variety] • “Joe Sitt’s Thor Equities buys into downtown Delray Beach with repossessed building” [BizJournals] • “Harbor Group buys Beverly Hills spot for $40 million” [PilotOnline] • “David Edelstein buys Lincoln Road buildings: $18.5M” [RealDeal] • “New Disclosure Rules for Shell Companies in New York Luxury Real Estate Sales” [NYTimes] • “Gary Barnett’s 80-Story Tower ‘One Manhattan Square’ is Still Causing Cherry Street to Sink” [BoweryBoogie]
“A New Israeli Study Says Weed Can Help Broken Bones Heal Faster: A study from Tel Aviv University shows that lab rats with broken bones who were given cannabidiol—a marijuana compound that doesn’t get you high—healed much faster than their straight-edge rat counterparts.” [ViceNews]
“Amy Winehouse Exhibit Makes U.S. Debut at San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish Museum” by Tamara Palmer: “Actually, there are two exhibits: “Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait,” a display of Winehouse’s personal artifacts lent by her family and mounted in cooperation with the Jewish Museum London, and “You Know I’m No Good,” featuring contemporary art inspired by the late British singing star.” [NBCBayArea]
SPORTS BLINK: “Europe’s Largest Jewish Sporting Event Coming to Germany: Europe’s largest Jewish sporting event is coming to Germany for the first time, bringing more than 2,000 Jewish athletes together from around the world to compete at a site constructed by the Nazis for the 1936 Olympics.” [AP]
TOP TWEET: @FallonTonight — “Jimmy has a doppelgänger on the dating app JSwipe!” [Twitter] • “In an age of online dating, Danielle Selber finds love connections the old-fashioned way for Jewish singles in Philadelphia.” [Slate]
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