27

The Iran nuclear deal signed in July 2015, which aimed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, was considered historic by the Obama administration but not strict enough by the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Also criticized in the United States by the Republican opposition, it was submitted to a blocking vote in Congress in September 2015. The US Jewish pro-Israel pressure groups took a position for or against the deal and led lobbying campaigns for or against its adoption in Congress. Mainstream organizations like AIPAC and AJC, and other conservative groups like The Israel Project, supported by the Israeli government, tried to convince members of Congress to vote against the deal, whereas progressive organizations such as J Street and Americans for Peace Now campaigned in favor of it—showing the polarization of these groups. In the end, Congress approved the deal. This vote can be explained by the influence of Barack Obama on Democratic members of Congress, but it also marked a defeat for the mainstream US Jewish pro-Israel groups and a relative reduction of their influence, as well as a success for the progressive organizations—a success that was also relative, especially if we take into account the fact that Barack Obama’s successor in the White House, Donald Trump, firmly opposed the deal and succeeded in withdrawing the United States from it in May 2018.