Obama to seek American Jews’ support for Iran deal in webcast

President Barack Obama will speak directly to the North American Jewish community about the Iran nuclear deal via a live webcast.

The webcast, scheduled for August 28, is being co-sponsored by The Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The organizations sponsored a similar webcast earlier this month on the deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The deal negotiated between Iran and six world powers, including the United States, would lift economic sanctions in exchange for the Islamic Republic curbing its nuclear program.

Netanyahu has been one of the deal’s most vocal opponents, and the American Jewish community has been divided on the agreement. Many centrist Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee, have come out against the deal, but on Monday, 340 American rabbis signed a letter to Congress urging it to vote in favor of the deal. Polls gauging American Jewish public opinion have produced mixed results.

While most Republicans are against the deal, Democrats have mostly supported it.

Congress has until late September to decide whether to reject the agreement. Obama has pledged to veto a rejection.

To register for the webcast, go to jewishfederations.org/conferenceofpresidents.