Conf. of Presidents Announces Bipartisan National Task Force on Iran

Former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey were tapped to co-chair the new National Task Force on Iran launched by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on Friday.

According to a news release by the Conference of Presidents, the Task Force will have a broad-based membership that will bring together experts and practitioners with a wide range of experience of the cause. It will also include a “High Level Working Group” of top experts that will help formulate ideas, new initiatives and programs, and consult on the policy agenda.

Also, Rachel Kozupsky, who recently served as a Regional Associate Director at AIPAC, was appointed as Director of the bipartisan task force.

“We are honored and excited that Senator Evan Bayh and Judge Michael Mukasey have agreed to head this very important initiative, which will bring together scores of Jewish and general organizations alongside leading experts, academics, and public figures, to address the ongoing threats posed by Iran,” the umbrella group’s chairman Stephen Greenberg and CEO Malcolm Hoenlein said in a statement. “The Task Force will confront Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapons capacity, its expanding support for international terrorism, its continued violation of human and civil rights at home and abroad, and its efforts to destabilize the region.”

“We must continue to monitor their drive towards a nuclear weapons capability, their violations of the JCPOA and their troubling humanitarian work,” said Senator Bayh. “The many drastic changes in the Middle East further complicate our work, but I am confident that this Task Force will serve as an effective vehicle to analyze the challenges and propose ways to make a difference.”

Mukasey added in a statement, “As the JCOPA comes into effect, there has never been a more critical time to convene top experts involved and organizations to develop a coordinated and inclusive program that will mobilize assets to assure Iranian compliance and consequences for violations.”

The formation of the new task force comes on the heels of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to DC, where he declared that he’s moved on beyond the debate over the Iran deal and has reached understandings with the administration going forward.