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<THREAD> 1. A brief vignette about Sen. Corker and the Iran deal, from his visit to Israel in January 2015.
2. Trump accuses Corker of supporting the Iran deal. Not true, he voted against it.
3. But his visit to Israel in January 2015 was a pivotal moment in ensuring its passage.
4. There was high tension in U.S.-Israel relations over Bibi's plan to speak in Congress as the Iran talks moved to a critical point.
5. A bipartisan group of Senators visited Israel, led by McCain and Graham; also Barrasso, Kaine, Donnelly, and King. Smart, seasoned group.
6. McCain and Graham visited Israel frequently, often after seeing troops in Iraq or Afghanistan.
7. I always enjoyed their visits. They were close to Bibi & could be critical of Obama, but were fair & tried to be serious problem-solvers.
8. It was unusual that Corker joined them. He did not arrive with them, flying directly from Washington to Israel.
9. He'd made clear that his main purpose for coming was to meet with Mossad Director Tamir Pardo and hear his views.
10. He had lobbied for that meeting in DC, getting the support of Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer.
11. After he landed, the PM's office decided to nix the meeting. Corker was furious and threatened to leave without meeting Bibi.
12. The Israelis (at Dermer's and our urging) changed course. They knew better than to piss off the SFRC chairman and a friend.
13. In the meeting, Corker was able to ask Pardo penetrating ?s on what would happen to negotiations if Menendez-Kirk sanctions bill passed.
14. His understanding after those conversations was that new sanctions would kill the negotiations and prospects for a deal.
15. Some version of Pardo's remarks leaked from the delegation, leading to Bibi rebuking Pardo.
16. The Senators on that trip then led efforts to reach a bipartisan consensus & avoid Congress being responsible for the failure of talks.
17. They understood that if a deal was reached &Congress rejected it, Iran would be able 2 resume its program (frozen since '13) unfettered.
18. But Congress needed to have its say. Over dinner in Jerusalem, they hatched the idea that ultimately became the Corker/Cardin bill.
19. It allowed Congress to express its view, but set the bar very high (veto-proof majority) for Congress to be able to kill it.
20. Corker and the others understood that once a deal with was reached, it would be very costly to see it fail at Congress' hand.
21. They pursued a responsible, bipartisan, internationalist solution in the best tradition of the Senate. It passed overwhelmingly.
22. They acted like the heirs to Senators like Vandenberg, Mansfield, Warner, Lugar, Kassebaum, and Nunn.
23. My guess is the views of this group still track those of Israeli security professionals, who mostly don’t want to see the deal scrapped.
24. They can be critical of the deal, want to strengthen its weak points, but see the U.S. killing it as irresponsible. END
