Approximately 300 people in the South Bay — including rabbis and other leaders in the Jewish community — were signatories on a newspaper advertisement urging local members of Congress to vote no on the proposed nuclear deal with Iran.
The half-page ad, which ran in the San Jose Mercury News on Aug. 30, was titled “An open letter to Silicon Valley [House of] Representatives [members] … Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda, Zoe Lofgren and Jackie Speier.” Though Eshoo and Honda were undecided as of last week, all four have announced they will vote yes.
Signatures and contributions to pay for the ad, which cost approximately $7,500, were collected largely via a grassroots effort in the Jewish community. The main organizers told J. they wanted to remain nameless.
The letter began: “We are Democrats, Republicans and Independents, acting from conscience in a nonpartisan effort.” It continued: “We acknowledge the Obama administration’s efforts to delay Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons through negotiations and we strongly favor diplomacy to the alternatives.”
It concluded: “We strongly urge you to vote no to an agreement that does not ultimately stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons while providing it with billions of dollars that will be spent to support various terrorist groups around the world.”
It also invited people to attend a “Stop Iran Rally” held in San Francisco on Aug. 30 (see above).
Congress will vote later this month whether to support the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.