![\"netanyahu-obama\"](\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/netanyahu-obama.jpg\")
<\/a>President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/p><\/div>\n
TEL AVIV \u2013 The president of a think tank that arranged a conference call Monday between the White House and progressive activist organizations in which participants discussed how to coordinate public defense of President Obama\u2019s pending Iran deal has another ultimate target in mind.<\/p>\n
Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, wants Israel to give up its nuclear weapons, arguing such a move will ensure Iran halts its illicit nuclear program and will help to create a Mideast nuclear-free zone.<\/p>\n
On Monday, White House officials held a private strategy conference call with progressive organizations to discuss ways of convincing lawmakers to support a deal with Iran being brokered by the Obama administration.<\/p>\n
The conference call organized by Ploughshares Fund, an anti-nuclear weapons advocacy group, had about 100 participants.<\/p>\n
Cirincione previously advised Barack Obama\u2019s 2008 presidential campaign on nuclear issues.<\/p>\n
The Ploughshares president outlined in his 2008 book, \u201cBomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons,\u201d that he favors Israel giving up its nuclear weapons to ensure Iran doesn\u2019t obtain nukes.<\/p>\n
He presented his position in a March 2005 opinion article for The Globalist, \u201cIran and Israel\u2019s Nuclear Weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the piece, Cirincione stated, \u201cNow is the time to put U.S. muscle behind long-standing U.S. policy of seeking a nuclear-free Middle East region\u201d with specific focus on Israel\u2019s nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n
He called for an \u201ceven-handed policy that views all nonconventional weapons in the Middle East as threats to regional peace and stability.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone already knows about Israel\u2019s bombs in the closet,\u201d Cirincione wrote. \u201cBringing them out into the open and putting them on the table as part of a regional deal may be the only way to prevent others from building their own bombs in their basements.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Cirincione, targeting Israel\u2019s nuclear program is a long-term policy aim.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will not be easy and will likely take years to fashion such an agreement. That is why there is no time to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, yet, as a policy, the government does not acknowledge it.<\/p>\n
Israel is said to have launched its nuclear program as early as the late 1940s and early 1950s.<\/p>\n
In March, at about the same time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress, the Obama administration approved a Freedom of Information Act request that resulted in the release of an extensive Pentagon report discussing Israel\u2019s nuclear weapon capabilities.<\/p>\n
\u2018An issue of the presidency\u2019<\/p>\n
On Monday, the Washington Free Beacon reported it obtained an audio recording of the conference call that day arranged by the Ploughshares Fund. In the call, White House officials described Obama\u2019s Iran negotiations as the president\u2019s \u201csignature foreign policy accomplishment,\u201d a policy that must in turn be supported by Democrats.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has really been on the front burner from a foreign perspective, although not in the public eye necessarily, since the very beginning,\u201d Matt Nosanchuk, an official in the White House Office of Public Engagement, told participants, according to the audio description. \u201cThis is not an issue of the day, this is really an issue of the presidency.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another official with the White House\u2019s Public Engagement office, John Bisognano, stressed \u201cthe importance of this to the president.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is clearly an issue that is very close to his heart and something that\u2019s extraordinarily important for the future of frankly the world,\u201d Bisognano said. \u201cI want to make sure everyone understands this is a top priority for the administration, and this is clearly something that we\u2019re all focused on moving forward and excited about hoping that we can come to a solid agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
A key participant in the call was Robert Creamer, a member of the progressive Democracy Partners group and the general consultant to United for Change, which was formed to support Obama\u2019s governing agenda.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to take to our memberships all over the country,\u201d Creamer told participants in the call. \u201cWe all have to step up. The other side will go crazy with intensity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Creamer urged progressive activists to target Democrats by \u201cblitzing the hell out of the Hill.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat will be ultimately decisive is the level of intensity that members of Congress feel, particularly Democrats,\u201d said Creamer. \u201cDemocrats are actually the key people here because if we can have enough votes to prevent a presidential veto override [of the deal], then we win.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means tons of phone calls, lots of lobbying contacts, not just a couple of good conversations, I mean just blitzing the hell out of the Hill,\u201d Creamer said, predicting \u201ca big, big battle\u201d over the deal. \u201cThis is going to be a real war for the next week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Creamer reportedly also provided participants with input from his wife, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me just also note, my wife, Congresswoman Schakowsky, just yelled across the room to me to make clear to everybody that we have to be clear that this is a good deal because it prevents Iran from getting a nuclear weapon,\u201d Creamer said. \u201cThe other side will go crazy. We have to be really clear that it\u2019s a good deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
As WND reported, the Ploughshares Fund opposes America\u2019s development of a missile-defense system and contributes to scores of anti-war groups highly critical of U.S. foreign policy and military expansion.<\/p>\n
The Ploughshares Fund has a long history of anti-war advocacy and is a partner of the Marxist-oriented Institute for Policy Studies. The institute has urged the defunding of the Pentagon and massive decreases in U.S. defense capabilities, including slashing the American nuclear arsenal to 292 deployed weapons, WND also previously reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
OBAMA ADVISER WANTS ISRAEL TO GIVE UP NUKES by Aaron Klein WND.com TEL AVIV \u2013 The president of a think tank that arranged a conference call Monday between the White House and progressive activist organizations in which participants discussed how … Continue reading