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Israeli Opposition Leader: Iran Deal Will Bring Chaos to the Middle East

(Atlantic) Jeffrey Goldberg - When I interviewed the leader of Israel's Labor Party, Isaac "Bougie" Herzog, at the Brookings Institution's Saban Forum last December, he said, in reference to nuclear negotiations with Iran: "I trust the Obama administration to get a good deal." When I spoke with him on July 15, Herzog's message was very different. The deal in Vienna, he said, "will unleash a lion from the cage, it will have a direct influence over the balance of power in our region, it's going to affect our borders, and it will affect the safety of my children." Iran, he said, is an "empire of evil and hate that spreads terror across the region." Iran will take its post-sanctions windfall, he said, and use the funds to supply more rockets to Hizbullah in Lebanon and more ammunition to Hamas in Gaza. "There are clear risks to Israel's security in this deal." "Most of the Israeli body politic is worried about the agreement, and people need to understand our worries. The world doesn't fully understand the fact that we are left here alone in this neighborhood, that there is a Shia empire that is trying to inflame the region with a heavy hand....We have respect for the United States, for this great ally and friend, and we don't want to be in a confrontation or clash. But we have to let people know that we think this is a dangerous situation."
2015-07-21 00:00:00
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