In direct appeals to American Jewish leaders, US President Barack Obama has warned that Israel would suffer if a nuclear deal with Iran was blocked, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged them to fight the deal .
Mr Obama and Vice President Joe Biden hosted 20 Jewish religious and political leaders at the White House on Tuesday. Greg Rosenbaum, chair of the National Jewish Democratic Council, who was at the briefing, said that Mr Obama acknowledged the deal was “by no means perfect.”
However, Mr Obama said that if the Iran deal did not go ahead, America would be pressured into a military strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities, which would increase terror against Israel.
"He said military action by the United States against Iran's nuclear facilities is not going to result in Iran deciding to have a fully-fledged war with the United States," Mr Rosenbaum said, quoting Mr Obama.
"'You'll see more support for terrorism. You'll see Hizbollah rockets falling on Tel Aviv.' This is what he said would happen if the US had a military strike on Iran," Mr Rosenbaum said.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a video urging members of the Jewish Federations of North America to fight the deal.
“I don't oppose this deal because I want war. I oppose this deal because I want to prevent war. And this deal will bring war,” Mr Netanyahu warned in the video. “The nuclear deal with Ian doesn’t block Iran’s path to the bomb, it actually paves Iran’s path to the bomb….Iran can get to the bomb by keeping the deal or Iran can get to the bomb by violating the deal.”
He finished his statement by saying: “So here’s the bottom line…don’t let the world’s foremost terrorist regime get its hands on the world’s most dangerous weapons. Oppose this bad deal.”
Below, watch Netanyahu's appeal to American Jews:
