Contact: Roslyn Singer
Director of Communications
rsinger@ou.org

Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, praised the introduction of the bipartisan Zero Tolerance for Terror Act into Congress by U.S. Representatives Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) and Ted Deutch (D-FL).

The bill, which has five Democrat and Republican co-sponsors, would allow Congress to quickly impose sanctions on Iran if the Iranian government commits an act of terror, provides support for terrorist organizations or violates international law by acquiring ballistic missile technology.

The Zero Tolerance for Terror Act was introduced in response to Iran illegally launching two ballistic missiles in October and November 2015. While the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) found that the October launch violated UNSC Resolution 1929, it did not take any action against Iran.

Nathan Diament, Executive Director of OU Advocacy, the nonpartisan public policy arm of the Orthodox Union, issued the following statement:

“Last month, the long-awaited International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report confirmed what we have suspected for years about the military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program: Iran previously lied about its ambitions, and, until 2009, actively sought to develop the technology for nuclear weapons. Since the signing of the Iran nuclear agreement, Iran has illegally tested two missiles capable of delivering a nuclear weapon. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration has yet to respond to these provocative actions, as it promised it would.

“The Zero Tolerance for Terror Act will give Congress the ability to respond to Iranian violations of international law and all Iranian acts of terror or sponsorship of terror. We applaud U.S. Representatives Kennedy and Deutch for sponsoring the bill and the bipartisan group of Representatives for co-sponsoring it. We urge all members of the U.S. House to co-sponsor this bill and move it forward quickly to become law.”