Obama to appeal to US Jews with webcast on Iran deal

President Barack Obama will Friday make a direct appeal to the North American Jewish community about the Iran nuclear deal in a live webcast.

The webcast is co-sponsored by The Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who earlier this month sponsored a similar — and ultimately glitchy — webcast with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Under the terms of the contentious agreement negotiated last month by the Islamic Republic and six world powers, Iran would allow restrictions on and supervision of its nuclear program in return for an end to years-long crippling sanctions.

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, while hundreds of rabbis have taken opposing stands in public announcements. Polls gauging American Jewish public opinion have produced mixed results.

While most Republicans are against the deal, Democrats have mostly supported it. On Thursday, Senator Tom Carper of Delaware became the latest Democratic politician to announce his support for the Iran nuclear deal.

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.