JINSA in the Times of Israel
Rebecca Shimoni Stoil writes in the Times of Israel: In an opinion piece published earlier this year in the Wall Street Journal, Lt. Gen. David Deptula, the retired former chief of Air Force intelligence and air campaign planner for Operations Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom, and JINSA CEO Michael Makovsky pointed out that while “Israel has 2,000- and 5,000-pound bunker-buster bombs, some of which were delivered by the Obama administration,” it is possible that these bombs will not be able to do major damage to Iranian underground nuclear facilities.
Rebecca Shimoni Stoil writes in the Times of Israel: In an opinion piece published earlier this year in the Wall Street Journal, Lt. Gen. David Deptula, the retired former chief of Air Force intelligence and air campaign planner for Operations Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom, and JINSA CEO Michael Makovsky pointed out that while “Israel has 2,000- and 5,000-pound bunker-buster bombs, some of which were delivered by the Obama administration,” it is possible that these bombs will not be able to do major damage to Iranian underground nuclear facilities.
US defense funding bill sends strong message on Iran
By Rebecca Shimoni Stoil – The Times of Israel
May 23, 2014
The House of Representatives’ version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed on Thursday afternoon by a bipartisan majority of 325-98, contained significant funding for Israel’s missile defense programs.
In addition, it also contained a wide variety of other sections reflecting profound House concern regarding Iran.
Although it is likely that the reconciliation process between the House and Senate versions of the bill will extend beyond the six-month deadline for renewal of the Joint Plan of Action (JPA) between P5+1 states and Iran on the achievement of a comprehensive agreement, the House legislation included strongly worded text delineating preconditions for a comprehensive deal.
In a statement welcoming the House passage of the legislation, AIPAC wrote that “importantly, the NDAA measure reinforces three key elements of American policy on Iran: tough diplomacy to dismantle Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure, strong sanctions enforcement, and a credible military option.”
Congressional oversight regarding negotiations with Iran has proven a major battleground since the November 2013 agreement on the JPA, and supporters of strong oversight scored a number of key victories in the House version of the NDAA.