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deterrent backup" beyond that as well,
including Europe, Japan, Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait and other Arab countries, and
guaranteeing "massive retaliation" if
Iran targeted Israel or America's Arab
allies.
President Obama has already
reached out to Saudi Arabia's King
Salman and Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu about the Iran
deal framework. He declared in an
interview that he's willing "to make
the kinds of commitments that would
give everybody in the neighborhood,
including Iran, a clarity that if Israel
were to be attacked by any state, that
we would stand by them," and he said
he would use a Camp David meeting
to "formalize" security assistance for
Arab allies.
Some may question such outreach
and may even be astonished at the
notion of providing a new specific
defense commitment to an Israeli
leader who has acted as if he were
a member of America's Republican
Party and has been the world's most
vocal opponent of a nuclear deal. And
yet accepting such an American offer
would end Netanyahu's bitter opposi-
tion to Obama's policy and a finalized
deal.
A defense treaty would offer the
Israeli prime minister a means not
only of increasing deterrence against
Iran but also a means of reversing the
decline in the U.S.-Israeli relationship.
It would serve as the most authorita-
tive message that the Iranians could
have that they would face a certain
and strong American reaction if they
threatened Israel.
Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the

could be wedded to Iran's known and
robust missile capability in pursuit of
its often-stated hegemonic aims in
the Middle East and beyond and its
threats against Israel.
The primary shortcomings in the
published parameters are:
• Agreement that Iran can engage
in continued research and develop-
ment as well as continued uranium
enrichment. New, more efficient
centrifuges will make the declining
number less relevant.
• Reliance on Iranian promises of
future behavior. Iran's record of hiding
programs, facilities and capabilities
makes it a poor candidate for interna-
tional trust on a matter of such grav-
ity to the international community.
• Reliance on international inspec-
tion regimes to monitor compliance.

United Arab Emirates (and possibly
such Gulf Cooperation Council states
as Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain)
ought to welcome such a commitment
— and protection — as well. It would
assure them of American engagement
in their region and reduce the likeli-
hood of the oft-discussed U.S. pivot to
Asia.
These are very difficult times for
these Arab states, particularly in
their struggles with Islamic State and
other radical groups, and Iran, and
they need all the help they can get,
even though they do not trust the U.S.
completely. Their adversaries, too,
would understand that they have the
full backing of the U.S. It is the right
moment to establish such close ties.
The U.S. and these Arab states face
common threats — in Syria, Iraq, Libya
and Yemen — and that has led them
to create varying forms of coalitions,
including military ones.
In the end, neither Netanyahu nor
the Arab leaders could afford not to
accept America's guarantees and
cease working against the deal that
had been reached.
Iran's potential victims and many
in the United States are justifiably
concerned about the nuclear deal. A
series of defense pacts with Israel and
these Arab states is the best route to
assuage these concerns, make sure
that Iran abides by its commitments
and create a more secure region with
positive global implications.

Steven L. Spiegel is a professor of political

science and the director of the Center for

Middle East Development at UCLA and a

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The future is

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scholar at the Israel Policy Forum.

Iraq and North Korea provide wor-
risome examples of the ability of
a hostile host country to control
access to sensitive sites. The prin-
ciple of "intrusive inspections" in
both cases became one of "find it if
you can," and in neither case was an
inspection regime adequate to the
search and destroy mission.
Nevertheless, it would be enough
for us if the United States was to
announce that the administration
will work with Congress to produce
a unified American position going
into the final stages of negotiation.
In the absence of such an
American announcement, the
Jewish Policy Center believes Iran
may be slowed, but surely will not
be stopped in its quest for nuclear
weapons capability. E

Meet Corrie Mathias, a current Yeshiva University
senior. Corrie will be graduating with a degree in political
science and will be starting her career with Teach for
America in the fall. She is among the 90% of YU students
employed, in graduate school or both—within six months
of graduation.* With nearly double the national average
acceptance rates to medical school and 97% acceptance
to law school and placements at Big Four accounting
firms, banks and consulting firms, our numbers speak
for themselves.

Picture yourself at YU. #NowhereButHere

Yeshiva University

www.yu.edu 212.960.5277 I yuadmit@yu.edu

*Career Center Survey, 2013/2014

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