Broad Jewish support for anti-BDS bill 

The process to pass the Anti-Discrimination Against Israel Act in Missouri has been an adventure from the beginning of the process. Jenny Wolkowitz created a coalition of professional and lay Jewish leaders who are passionate about Israel, the Missouri-Israel relationship and about Missouri becoming the 25th state to pass an anti-BDS bill. We hit several obstacles, or threats of obstacles, along the way.  

Several dozen concerned citizens from the Jewish community, from Jewish day schools to the business world, as well as non-Jewish Zionists and others have attended hearings in both houses to show support and testify on these bills. Many more people from across the state have written letters, sent emails and called their elected officials to voice their support. While one senator on the west side of the state has erected an enormous obstacle in the face of a filibuster of the bill, we are not giving up and are still optimistic.  

A cross section of St. Louis Jewish leaders — including Conservative, Reform and Orthodox rabbis and the heads of several prominent area Jewish community organizations — have signed a letter of thanks to the bill’s sponsors: Sen. Mike Kehoe, Sen. Jill Schupp and Speaker of the House Todd Richardson. The letter thanked them for their dedication and leadership and expressed our support to try whatever it takes to pass the bill in the final days of the session (read the letter and the list of signatories online at stljewishlight.com/2018-letter). 

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The diversity of the signatories reflects that the overwhelming consensus of support in the broader St. Louis Jewish community for the Anti-Discrimination Against Israel Act. Regardless of the outcome of the bill in this legislative session, we can still say “Dayenu”: The broad support for the bill shows that Israel is a common cause still capable of uniting the St. Louis Jewish community.    

Michael Minoff, Olivette

Iran deal withdrawal the wrong move

Shame on President Donald Trump for his decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and negate the U.S.-Iran agreement negotiated by President Barack Obama in 2015.

Trump was absolutely correct when he called the agreement “an embarrassment,” except for the fact that he was the one who should be embarrassed. Trump gave no explicit evidence that Iran had violated the deal, and his explanation that Iran had clearly lied in the past and could not be trusted, was lame and had no credibility.

It seems to me that he predicated his decision on the word of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who recently said that Iran lied and was not living up to the terms of the agreement, without offering concrete proof. 

I’ve always been a hawk relating to foreign policy, especially in regard to Iran and North Korea, but Trump’s action was not in the best interest of the United States. I couldn’t have agreed more than with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who stated that this “rash decision isolates America, not Iran.”

It’s unfortunate that in this instance Trump acted more with his heart than with his brain.

Gene Carton, Olivette