Leaders of the pro-Israel lobby group The American Israel Public Affairs Committee could go home from Jerusalem to Washington this week with a deep sense of satisfaction that the visit they had arranged for a delegation of congressional Democrats was worth every cent. The 22 representatives were told by Israel’s top leadership that a tremendous majority of the Jewish Israeli public believes the agreement with Iran is wrong in its essence. They noted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud, opposition leaders Isaac Herzog and former prime ministerial candidate Tzipi Livni, both from the Zionist Camp, all told the Americans in no uncertain terms that this is a bad agreement. Not a problematic agreement, not controversial nor insufficient — a bad agreement, unacceptable, dangerous.

Netanyahu dedicated over 90 minutes Aug. 9 to reviewing the weaknesses of the agreement for members of the delegation. His bottom line was, too, that this is a bad agreement.

After explaining to them at length why the agreement with Iran poses a grave threat to Israel’s security, if not to its very existence, Netanyahu was careful to tell the American politicians, with a veneer of political correctness, that it is not his place to tell them how to vote, and "It is up to you.” This is like saying, “Anyone who backs this agreement cannot be considered a friend of Israel, but, of course, you’re fully within your rights to vote in favor of Israel’s enemies. Who am I to interfere in US domestic affairs.”

Herzog spent quite a while with the guests, too, and he also painted the agreement in black and white with no shades of grey. Reportedly, the leader of the opposition stressed, too, that he “believe[s] the agreement with Iran is bad," saying, "I, too, am deeply critical of the deal with Iran. … I believe there’s great danger in letting the hungry Iranian tiger out of his cage and allowing him to roam the region and upset its balance of power. … The agreement legitimizes Iran as a nuclear threshold state within 10 or 15 years, in a totally different way from today.”