Republican nominee Donald Trump warned recently that unless he is elected the next U.S. president, Israel could face an existential threat, over the Iranian nuclear deal. Trump has been a vocal critic of the July 2015 deal inked between Iran and the West. According to The Columbus Dispatch, Trump spoke Monday before a labor leaders in Cleveland, and said the nuclear deal seeking to slow and control Tehran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of crippling international sanctions, "is going to destroy Israel -- unless I get elected. Then Israel will be just fine." Trump said the deal had rendered Iran a "world power," whereas it had previously been a regional power. "The deal is one of the worst negotiated deals I have ever seen," he stated. In March, he told American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference attendees that if elected, it would be his "number one priority" to "dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran," vowing that were the deal to remain as it is he would "police that contract so tough they [Iran] don't have a chance." Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton's running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine, defended the Iran deal and dismissed Trump's concerns about Israel as insincere, saying the Republican's strategy for Israel was to "pat them on the back and tell them good luck." Kaine noted that Trump said last year he would remain neutral when it came to the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, then contemplated making Israel pay for its U.S. defense assistance. "Israel is our strongest partner in the region," Kaine said. "Trump's plan was to pat them on the back and tell them good luck. That's no way to treat an ally, that's no way to treat a friend."
