President Obama had to choose between dishonor and war, and he chose dishonor. Now we will have a war. In order to establish a legacy for his failed foreign policy, he has dishonored U.S. allies in the Middle East, including Israel and the Persian Gulf states, by deliberately abandoning their security concerns by paving the way for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.

These words are those of Churchill after the Munich Agreement was signed, when Britain and France believed that handing Czechoslovakia to Hitler was the only way to save the world from another war. It is regarded as the shameful culmination of the Allied refusal to confront Nazi aggression and gave Hitler what he wanted in exchange for his verbal promise of “peace in our time” as Neville Chamberlain called it. 

After the Munich Agreement, Churchill gave a speech in the House of Commons on the future consequences to Europe and the world of the agreement which he called “total and unmitigated defeat.” Following the Vienna agreement, these warnings ring as true now as they did then.

For the last two years of direct negotiations with Iran, the U.S. position has been evolving from its promises that ”no deal is better than a bad deal” to any deal, even a bad one, that can be signed, is better than having no deal at all. Americans have been much more eager to reach a deal than the Iranians, who came to the negotiations because of their near economic collapse and diplomatic isolation. To that end, the U.S. has been willing to compromise on nearly all of the West’s demands. Iranian leaders understood that and had no qualms about raising the stakes. In the end, Obama and Kerry had no red lines, and they folded.

Let us be clear. The agreement is a total U.S. defeat and an Iranian victory. Despite the desperate propaganda by Obama, in reality the U.S. and the West have paved the way for Iran to maintain its nuclear weapon program and infrastructure and continue its nuclear activities which include nuclear research and development and usage of thousands of centrifuges .In addition, the Iranians will receive an upfront signing bonus of billions of dollars of sanctions relief, regardless of future compliance. Contrary to the Obama administration’s past promises of “anytime,  anywhere” snap inspections, and “ the most robust and intrusive inspections” the international monitors will now have to request the Iranians for advance permission, and the Iranians will decide whether to permit,  deny, or delay verification and inspection of any of  its nuclear or military facilities. Moreover, the idea of “snap back” sanctions is completely unrealistic. It is naïve to believe that once the sanctions are removed and the greedy Europeans, Russians, and Chinese resume making money from Iran, they will reinstate the sanctions when Iran inevitably cheats and decides to build a bomb.

Meanwhile, Iranian influence and stature will grow, using the hundreds of billions of dollars of economic investments to continue financing their terrorist activities in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, and the West Bank as well as to sustain their tyrannical regime.

But Israel is not Czechoslovakia. Israel was deliberately abandoned by its ally but it is not broken and will never be silent. Israel is a nuclear power and can attack Iran on its own like it did the Iraqi and Syrian nuclear reactors. The only obstacle is that Obama has tied Israeli hands for the last two years of negotiations.

Now Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the other Persian Gulf States are free to defend themselves. The agreement was between the U.S., Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and Iran. Israel is not a signed partner to the agreement nor are the Arab Sunni States.

The nuclear arms race has just begun. Saudi Arabia and many of the Persian Gulf States now will turn to Pakistan for a nuclear bomb. Many others like Egypt and Turkey will gravitate to the Russians and the Chinese for nuclear reactors. The Islamic State will continue to fight its Shiite enemies with disregard to its own casualties and will try to find a dirty bomb to use. The Middle East is not Europe and Iran is not a rational player like ex-Soviet Union. It is a suicidal Shiite state alongside suicidal Sunni states in the powder keg called the Middle East which is not susceptible to Cold War discipline of mutual deterrence or to a written agreement.

Now each one of us, Jews and non- Jews alike, have a responsibility to exert pressure on the U.S. Congress to prevent it from signing off on the deal. A two-thirds majority in both houses is needed to bypass a probable presidential veto. The Congress must stop the bad deal with Iran and U.S. Jews must choose Israel’s survival over Obama’s legacy.

Otherwise, future generations will ask what you did to save the Jewish State when President Obama, the modern-day Chamberlain, gave Jihadist Iran a nuclear weapon.

Shoula Romano Horing is an Israeli raised and born. Her blog: www.shoularomanohoring.com