Israeli ambassador slams Obama’s Iran talks

Israel’s ambassador to Washington jumped squarely into the fray over Obama’s Iran diplomacy on Friday by endorsing his government’s campaign against a proposed nuclear deal.

Ambassador Ron Dermer retweeted a chart from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacking a proposal to loosen sanctions in exchange for limits on Iran’s nuclear program. The deal came close to being adopted last weekend and is expected to be back on the table during a new round of talks starting Thursday in Geneva.

Retweet and send this important message to the world pic.twitter.com/3cmWg658it

— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 15, 2013

The tweet puts Dermer firmly in the center of a brewing political battle over whether to lift sanctions or reinforce them. The White House has repeatedly sent top officials — including Vice President Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry — to Capitol Hill to get lawmakers to back off new sanctions, but a growing number are balking. 

Dermer was Netanyahu’s former liaison to the White House and helped organize Mitt Romney’s trip to Jerusalem last year. Netanyahu’s perceived support for Romney during the 2012 presidential campaign briefly threatened to derail his nomination, but the Israeli leader had sought to patch things up with Democrats after Obama’s reelection.

The Iran talks, however, have placed renewed strain on Obama’s relationship with Netanyahu, who is actively — and very publicly — warning against taking the Iranians at their word. This isn’t the first time Dermer weighed in on the Iran issue. Last week, he retweeted another Netanyahu message showing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei declaring that “the United States is the most hated power in the world.”

The Real Face of Iran: Retweet and show what @khamenei_ir really thinks about the United States pic.twitter.com/B3xmZkS7Z4

— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 4, 2013