Congress is Back, Israel is Safer and Iran is Mad!

Welcome Back! After the election recess, Congress is back this week, and BUSY.
 
The Iran Sanctions Act, a U.S. law incredibly important for the future security of Israel, was set to expire at the end of the year. The economic sanctions on Iran set forth in the Act had great impact over the years and was credited to bring Iran to the negotiating table to stop their nuclear and weapons development. This lead to the controversial Iran Nuclear Deal, or JCPOA, which lifted the sanctions in exchange for Iran’s cooperation.
 
The United States Congress does not want the original sanctions against Iran to expire so they can “snap back,” or re-impose, the sanctions on Iran in case they are found in violation of the Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA).
 
On Tuesday, November 15, 2016, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed, by a vote of 419 to 1, a ten year extension of the Iran Sanctions Act.
 
Iran is furious. According to international Press TV, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said;
“If you extend the sanctions, this will mean kicking the JCPOA away and we will confront it through implementing powerful technical packages.”
 
Earlier a top Iran Major General had threatened the U.S. is the newly elected President Trump defeated the JCPOA;

“Whoever becomes the president in the US has to support the Zionists, but annulling the JCPOA will be a strategic mistake. If Trump seeks to annul the JCPOA, this will cost the US dearly,”
 
The renewal of the Iran Sanctions Act now moves to the Senate and needs a quick vote. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell stated that he will bring it to a vote in the Senate and he expects it will pass overwhelmingly in the Senate as it did in the House.
 
According to the Washington Post, there is a proposal from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) to supplement the extension with new sanctions related to ballistic missile tests, cyber threats and espionage, and the activities of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, and another from Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) to tie the ISA extension to $1.5 billion in aid for Israel.
 
 This would take precious time away, cause debate, and open the possibility of not getting the sanctions reauthorized in time. Congress must send a message to Iran that they can get away with breaking the rules with no serious consequences.
 
Iran needs to know that violations they make of the JCPOA will have future consequences.
 
Also in the U.S. Senate, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham introduced the introduced “The Taylor Force Act” which would require the Secretary of State to certify the Palestinian Authority has ended its policy of paying monetary rewards to terrorists and their surviving family members.

The Palestinian leadership publically gives monetary rewards to Palestinians, Arab residents of Israel, to commit acts of terror against Jews. Since 2015 there has been a spree of car ramming’s into bus stops and stabbing attacks against innocent Jewish residents as well as foreign visitors.

Taylor Force was a former U.S. Army officer who was part of a Vanderbilt University tour group visiting Israel when he was brutally stabbed and killed by a Palestinian terrorist.

Senator Graham stated in his press release;

 “Why is the Palestinian Authority paying young Palestinians to commit acts of terror against innocent Americans like Taylor Force or Israelis? The Palestinians need to decide – do they condemn these horrible acts or do they reward them? You can’t be a partner in peace when you are paying people to commit terrorist acts. The choice the Palestinians make will determine the type of relationship they have with the United States in the years to come.”

“This bill stands for a simple principle: U.S. taxpayer dollars should never be used to fund terror against our own citizens or our ally Israel,” said Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas).

“The American people and the Israelis believe in helping the Palestinians build a better and more prosperous society. But that better society will never be possible if Palestinian leaders continue to funnel cash to terrorists and their families. The Obama administration and future administrations should hold Palestinian leadership accountable on this issue and tell them that as long as they continue to fund terror, they should not expect another dollar of U.S. economic assistance.”

Call your Senators today and ask them to vote for the extension of the Iran Sanctions Act and also the Taylor Force Act.