Dozens of Representatives Sign EMET’s Open Letters to President Biden on Iran and UN Amb. Thomas-Greenfield on Israel “Commission”

Contact: Naomi Grant
Director of Communications
ngrant@emetonline.org
301-893-4644

(January 25, 2022, Washington, D.C.) EMET offers its profound thanks to the dozens of representatives who signed its two letters imploring the United States to take strong stances promoting stability in the Middle East.

Letter #1, addressed to President Joe Biden regarding Iran’s nuclear program, urges the president to end negotiations, denouncing the “administration’s puzzling insistence on forging a nuclear agreement with a State Sponsor of Terrorism, which has used the past year to develop its own nuclear program as a result.”

As written in the letter, “the threat Iran poses to wider regional security cannot be understated. Iran is governed by a radical Islamic terrorist organization, the foremost goal of which is the establishment of regional hegemony, and it will use whatever resources at its disposal and employ whatever policies are needed to meet that objective.”

Led by Rep. Scott Perry, this letter was signed by 34 House Republicans: Reps. Babin,

Bacon, Banks, Cawthorn, Bill Johnson, Boebert, Budd, Cline, Cole, Davis, Duncan, Fleischmann, Gibbs, Gohmert, Good, Grothman, Harris, Higgins, Hudson, Lamalfa, Lamborn, Mace, Mary Miller, Mast, McClintock, McKinley, Ronny Jackson, Adrian Smith, Steube, Tenney, Van Drew, Waltz and Weber.

“The United States has already lifted several sanctions on Iran and received nothing in return. Iran has continued enriching uranium, arming Hamas and Hezbollah and expanding drone capabilities to attack Israel and the United States. Nothing could be more clear of an indication that diplomacy isn’t working,” EMET Director of Communications Naomi Grant said.

EMET implores the Biden Administration to reconsider its attempts at diplomacy with Iran and speedily implement a plan B.

View the Iran letter here.

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Letter #2, addressed to United States Ambassador to the UN Linda-Thomas Greenfield, is in regard to the Israel Commission, a kangaroo court for which not a single western democracy voted in favor.

This “independent” commission will “investigate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem [sic], and in Israel all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021, and all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity.”

This incredibly broad mandate does not once mention Hamas, nor its thousands of rockets targeting Israeli civilians, Hamas’ use of human shields or the Palestinian Authority’s “Pay for Slay” program.

As stated in EMET’s letter, “This choreographed farce of an Inquiry will serve only to further erode the credibility and trustworthiness of the United Nations in serving as an even-keeled and impartial arbiter, and will foment only greater levels of distrust and animosity between Israel and the Palestinians. If this Administration insists on lending our credibility to the United Nations Human Rights Council, we insist that you use our Nation’s vote, voice, and influence to finally remove Israel as an UN Human Rights Council agenda item and eliminate this intrinsically counterproductive Inquiry.”

This “inquiry” is the UN’s most egregious assault on Israel yet and EMET strongly urges the United States and Amb. Thomas-Greenfield to do everything possible to prevent this massive-scale antisemitic libel and to ensure that Israel suffers no consequences for this UN-sanctioned “open season” on its very existence.

“The UN has a long, egregious history of demonizing Israel…[but] this particular initiative has extremely serious long-term consequences, legitimizing those who want to isolate Israel. American taxpayer money is being used to wage this egregious campaign against a democratic state trying to defend its citizens against terrorists and it must be stopped immediately. We implore everyone to do whatever they can to stop this unprecedented assault on the state of Israel,” EMET Founder and President Sarah Stern said.

Led by Rep. Scott Perry, this letter was signed by 42 House Republicans: Reps. Babin,

Bacon, Balderson, Banks, Boebert, Budd, Cawthorn, Cole, Duncan, Fleischmann, Gibbs, Gohmert, Good, Grothman, Harris, Hern, Herrell, Higgins, Hudson, Mike Johnson, Ronny Jackson, Bill Johnson, Keller, Lamalfa, Lamborn, Letlow, Mace, McClintock, Mary Miller, Mast, McKinley, Norman, Adrian Smith, Chris Smith, Steube, Smucker, Tenney, Tiffany, Van Drew, Waltz and Weber.

If your representative has already signed on to both of these letters, please thank him or her for doing so. If your representative has not, please encourage him or her to do so. Representatives’ contact information can be found here.

View the UN letter here.