Jewish Democrats Schumer, Engel to oppose Iran deal
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Jewish Democrats Schumer, Engel to oppose Iran deal

By JTA Wire Service August 7, 2015, 2:47 pm Edit
Sen. Charles Schumer participating in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, July 8, 2015. Schumer, a New York Democrat, is seen as a key vote on the Iran deal. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Sen. Charles Schumer participating in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, July 8, 2015. Schumer, a New York Democrat, is seen as a key vote on the Iran deal. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Two of the most watched Jewish lawmakers in Congress announced on Thursday evening that they will vote to disapprove of the Iran deal.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., both said that they had considered the issue carefully before their decision.

“Advocates on both sides have strong cases for their point of view that cannot simply be dismissed,” Schumer said in a statement obtained by the New York Times. “This has made evaluating the agreement a difficult and deliberate endeavor, and after deep study, careful thought and considerable soul-searching, I have decided I must oppose the agreement and will vote yes on a motion of disapproval.”

Schumer, a Jewish lawmaker from New York who is poised to become his party’s leader in the Senate in 2017, and Engel, the top Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, had come under intense pressure from the White House and critics of the deal, both because of the intensity of some Jewish New Yorkers’ opposition to it and because of their influence as unabashed supporters of Israel.

“The answers I’ve received simply don’t convince me that this deal will keep a nuclear weapon out of Iran’s hands, and may in fact strengthen Iran’s position as a destabilizing and destructive influence across the Middle East,” Reuters quoted Engel as saying.

Eliot Engel, a Democrat who represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester, is the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He also serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee. (Courtesy Eliot Engel's office)
Eliot Engel, a Democrat who represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester, is the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He also serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee. (Courtesy Eliot Engel’s office)

Congress has until the end of September to kill the deal, but opponents must garner two thirds majorities in both chambers to overcome President Barack Obama’s pledged veto. Most Republicans want to kill the deal, making the battleground for votes among Democrats.

MoveOn, a liberal group that backs the deal, announced within minutes of Schumer’s declaration that it would launch a donor strike targeting the Democrats’ Senate reelection committee. Such a strike could send a message to the party’s establishment, while freeing up the grassroots movement’s base to give to individual senators.

“The vast majority of Democratic voters — the people who elected President Obama in part because of our shared belief that war must always be a last resort — will not stand for it,” said a statement from Ilya Sheyman, the group’s political action director. “Frankly, we thought Senator Schumer and other Democrats in Washington had learned their lesson after being misled into supporting a misguided war of choice in Iraq.”

Six major powers and Iran reached the sanctions relief for nuclear restrictions on July 14. Israel’s government, backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, opposes the deal.

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