“Iran will not fulfill their obligations under any deal they sign. They’ll sign anything and they will violate it. With regimes like Iran, like Syria, like Iraq, you don’t make deals to stop them from having nukes. You destroy their facilities.”
By Yoni Kempinski
(April 29, 2025 / Arutz Sheva) Morton Klein, President of Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), spoke to Arutz Sheva-Israel National News at the JNS Conference in Jerusalem.
Commenting on the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, Klein expressed concern that Iran would violate any deal it may sign.
“I’m very worried that they’re going to make some sort of deal because Iran will not fulfill their obligations under any deal they sign. They’ll sign anything and they will violate it. With regimes like Iran, like Syria, like Iraq, you don’t make deals to stop them from having nukes. You destroy their facilities. They made a deal with Hitler. It didn’t work. He violated it,” he said.
“Trump said a few months ago that the greatest title any human being can have is the title of peacemaker. He said it publicly. I’m very concerned that he’s letting his attempt to have this image of peacemaker cloud his vision about what has to be done about Iran,” added Klein.
To the question of what Israel should do at this point, especially under this administration, Klein pointed out, “I told Israel since 2012, when I would meet with Bibi and the chiefs of the staff, the armed forces, ‘You got to hit them now.’ 2012, 2013, 2014. They never did. It was a terrible mistake.”
He continued, “The only way to stop Iran is militarily. A deal will never work. First of all, they will not agree to destroy all their facilities, and even if they do, they won’t do it. I’m very worried about it. And we in the West, we in America have to understand. They scream that America is the big Satan, Israel is the little Satan. They want to destroy America and the West as well as Israel.”
On the war in Gaza, Klein said, “I don’t know militarily precisely what Israel is doing, but it seems to me they should be using more effort to take out Hamas once and for all. They haven’t done it. It’s been almost two years, and I think they’re afraid of the UN, they’re afraid of the world condemning them, as opposed to doing what has to be done.”
Asked whether Israel should ignore the UN and the international community and to a certain extent also the U.S., he replied, “Israel has to ignore the UN because the UN hates Jews and hates Israel. They’re the most antisemitic major organization on earth and we have to ignore them because they only want harm to the Jewish state.”
As for the U.S., Klein stated that “Donald Trump is the greatest friend we’ve ever had in the White House, and he’s been great on every issue. He has the greatest cabinet, pro-Israel cabinet, we’ve ever seen. But I’m very worried about Iran. I’m very worried that Steve Witkoff is really not experienced or that knowledgeable about these issues, and he’s the one negotiating.”
This article was originally published in Israel National News-Arutz Sheva.