Excerpts from an open letter to the Rhode Island congressional delegation 

Dear Sens. Reed and Whitehouse, and Reps. Cicilline and Langevin:

We are writing to you as members of a new organization of R.I. judges and lawyers – a group called “Judges and Lawyers for Israel.”  This group, comprised of members of the Rhode Island Judiciary and Rhode Island Bar, recently formed due to shared concerns about the deteriorating relationship between the administration and the government of the State of Israel; the unfair double standard applied by many people to Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East; and the rise of anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic speech and violence throughout the world, including in our own community.

We urge each of you to attend the upcoming speech of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 3 at the joint session of Congress, and to reject the unfortunate calls by some to boycott that address.  We very much appreciate and recognize that each of you has, throughout your respective political careers, been stalwart friends and supporters of the State of Israel.  We thank you sincerely for that support.  It is because of your past support that we are confident that you will attend this important address by the leader of our long-standing ally.

Our concerns, however, go beyond the issues of protocol.  The reports that the U.S. and Iran are close to a nuclear deal that would allow Iran to maintain a substantial portion of its uranium enrichment capabilities is unacceptable.  The notion that the U.S. would enter into an agreement with Iran based upon a perceived ability to monitor and verify compliance ignores recent experience both with Iran and other nuclear powers. Historically, the U.S. intelligence agencies have been wholly unsuccessful at discovering nuclear breakout activities by proliferating countries in advance of their testing.  The Soviets surprised us in 1949, as did the Chinese in 1962.  We failed to discover North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons, and were surprised at Pakistan’s unlawful proliferation.  As for Iran, the Shiite clerics running that country have continually evaded IAEA monitoring activities and our intelligence agencies have repeatedly been surprised at Iran’s level of surreptitious nuclear activities.  In light of this past experience, it would be irresponsible to wager our safety and that of Israel on monitoring capabilities that do not exist.

It is clear that Iran’s nuclear intentions not only pose an existential threat to the State of Israel but to America and the West as well.  Iran is not designing and building intercontinental ballistic missiles (which, incidentally, are not even being addressed in the P5+1 talks) in order to destroy Israel.  Those ICBM’s are being built to deter or, alternatively, to attack the United States.  It is also clear that a weak nuclear deal will lead the Sunni States to either develop or acquire their own nuclear capability. 

On behalf of the committee:

Jeffrey H. Gladstone, Esq.

Steven E. Snow, Esq.

Hon. Howard I. Lipsey

Hon. Edward H. Newman