Steinitz hits back at Moniz: If I were American, I’d oppose nuke deal

After US counterpart says he’d support Iran deal if he were Israeli, energy minister charges pact ensures Iran will be nuclear state

Minister of Energy and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz presenting the guidelines for regulating the country’s offshore natural gas reserves at a press conference in Jerusalem, June 30, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Minister of Energy and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz presenting the guidelines for regulating the country’s offshore natural gas reserves at a press conference in Jerusalem, June 30, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz hit back Monday at US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, declaring that if he were American, he would oppose the Iranian nuclear deal.

Steinitz was responding to a comment Moniz made to Israeli reporters earlier in the day, in which he indicated that he would support the nuclear deal with Iran even if he were Israeli.

“If I were American, I would oppose the agreement,” Stenitiz said in a statement released to the press.

He went on to list the reasons he would oppose the controversial accord signed between Iran and the P5+1 world powers in Vienna on July 14.

“I would oppose the agreement because it ensures from the outset Iran’s becoming a nuclear power capable of producing dozens of atomic bombs per month, ten years from today. I would oppose the agreement because it is likely to lead to a nuclear arms race between Iran and the Sunni Arab states – in complete contravention of the avowed policy of the US,” Steinitz said.

“I would oppose the agreement because even in the short term, the inspections are not immediate and invasive, as was promised at the start. I would oppose the agreement because it harms the national security of the United States, Israel and every Western country,” he went on.

Steinitz, alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has campaigned strongly against the deal and has led several delegations to Washington to lobby against the negotiations with Tehran.

In June, Steinitz traveled to Washington to meet with several senior US officials, including Moniz.

In this photo taken July 31, 2015, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz waits to speak during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)
In this photo taken July 31, 2015, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz waits to speak during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

At a briefing with Israeli diplomatic correspondents in the US capital Monday, Moniz was asked by Israeli reporters whether he would still back the agreement if he analyzed it from an Israeli perspective. Moniz, who helped negotiate the controversial pact, answered in the affirmative, adding that “a fair amount” of the Israeli public may share this assessment.

“But clearly, [the nuclear deal] is part of a bigger issue in terms of how we are going to address our collective security requirements in the region,” he said. “This is an important tool for us to do that, by taking the existential threat off the table.”

Moniz was speaking to the Israel Diplomatic Correspondents Association in his office at the Department of Energy, where he defended the nuclear accord, but asserted that it does not herald an American pivot toward Iran or a weakening of Washington’s bond with Jerusalem.

“Make no mistake about it: this agreement does not change one iota who our friends and allies are in the region. It’s Israel, it’s the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council], and maybe a couple of other Arab states in region. Those are our friends and allies,” Moniz said. “Iran does not move out of the box unless support for terrorism is addressed. That includes Hezbollah, obviously; unless activities increasing regional instability are addressed; unless human rights issue are addressed… and in my personal view that the rhetoric around Israel changes dramatically.”

US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz briefing Israeli reporters on the nuclear deal with Iran in his Washington office, August 3, 2015 (photo credit: courtesy IDCA)
US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz briefing Israeli reporters on the nuclear deal with Iran in his Washington office, August 3, 2015 (photo credit: courtesy IDCA)

A delegation of the Israel Diplomatic Correspondents Association is currently in Washington for a series of briefings with senior administration officials, US lawmakers and Jewish community officials to learn more about the discussion surrounding the Iran deal and other issues of importance to the bilateral relations. The weeklong trip, the first of its kind, was funded by the Ruderman Family Foundation. The meetings were arranged independently by the IDCA.

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