Akiva Hebrew Day School
Negotiation
Is The Key
T
he first step toward an agree-
ment with Iran has occurred
and we must wait until June
30 for more specifics.
Was this a diplomatic achieve-
ment for the U.S. and P5+1 nations?
How about Iran? At home, reactions
range from utter dismay — "You gave
away the store creating another North
Korea" to "Let's wait and see the end
details:'
In Iran, however, they are celebrat-
ing and dancing in the
streets.
As I watched the pro-
cess unfold, I viewed it
as a negotiation process,
similar to how we resolve
litigation and busi-
ness deals. Last week,
we learned a transition
occurred in the negotia-
tion process — and that
happened over a year ago.
Initially, the U.S: stated
position was that Iran
must dismantle its nuclear facilities
and infrastructure. This, of course, was
and continues to be Israel's position.
A story that ran in the Wall Street
Journal on April 2 indicated that top
Obama officials concluded one month
after negotiations began in October
2013 that an agreement to dismantle
Iran's nuclear facilities and infrastruc-
ture was unattainable.
The Iranians had reframed the
nuclear issue in terms of dignity and
respect for its people, maintaining that
the nuclear program was a national
agenda akin to our efforts to put a
man on the moon in the 1960s.
A senior U.S. official confirmed that
the U.S. made the assessment back
in November 2013 that the nuclear
program was Iran's "moonshot" and
therefore elected to pursue a strategy
of limitation rather than dismantle-
ment. The senior official even boasted
of their tactical strategy stating, "But I
can honestly tell you, we always antici-
pated that:'
Embracing Iran's agenda and then
fashioning a strategy within that
framework is a recognized negotiation
tactic — and that is what the U.S. did.
The problem, however, is that it is not
Yom Hay/ft/mut'
the only tactic.
In an article on "16 Irrefutable
Negotiation Tactics" in, Forbes, August.
27, 2014, Cliff Oxford identifies this
tactic among others — such as, Know
if time is working for or against you;
and — Sandbagging counts (understat-
ing what you can do). Another well-
accepted and relevant tactic identified
by Wharton Professor Alan Grant is —
Know your target price and walkaway
terms.
In the current deal, it is
clear that the U.S. team mis-
fired on these other critical
tactics. Tactically, we must ask
why didn't we persuade Iran to
embrace our agenda?
As to the tactic of knowing
if time is for or against you,
Iran, again, was the winner.
The goal here is to make
sure the other side doesn't
believe you're in too much of a
hurry to make a deal. Did you
ever hear the Iranian's say "no
deal if not by March 31"? Even then, it
was the U.S. that extended the date.
Negotiation is not a card game
where the last player can call and the
game ends. In a negotiation, you can
always call, walk away and then wait
for the other side to call you back. This
is often the key to making the right
deal.
Because we knew that obtaining
an agreement to dismantle Iran's
infrastructure was unattainable in
November 2013 — that was the time
we should have simply said, "We've got
to go, call us when you're ready to talk.
When you are, we'll treat your people
with dignity and respect, and when the
infrastructure is dismantled, so will be
the sanctions:'
There can always be a better deal.
That is what negotiation is all about.
When you need a lawyer, you should
make sure he knows how to negotiate.
The same goes for your president and
secretary of state.
❑
Ken Gross is an attorney with Thav Gross
and host of Law and Reality that airs
weekly at 9 a.m. Saturdays on WDFN 1130
AM, "The Fan" and 11 a.m. Sundays, on
TV20.
Dancing. Dinner.
Family Furl."
Music by Yosef Greenberger
40.
AIN
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-.-
rnx=vm
till • 11111'1
Thursday, April 23, 2015 • 5:30 p.m.
11111KWRY
Location: Akiva Hebrew Day School
21100 West 12 Mile Road, Southfield
For more information,
contact Cheryl Jerusalem
cheryl.jerusalem@akiva.org
www.akiva.org
DETROIT
JEWISH NEWS
JN
April 9 • 2015
35