‘Schindler’s List’ producer raps pro-Iran deal letter by prominent L.A. Jews

(JTA) — A producer of the film “Schnidler’s List,” Gerald Molen, criticized an open letter signed by nearly 100 prominent Los Angeles Jews supporting the recent accord on Iran’s nuclear program.

Molen, who won an Academy Award for the 1993 film about the Holocaust, wrote an email opposing the agreement to LAJewishLeadersForIranDeal@gmail.com, the email account set up by the letter’s signatories, The Hollywood Reporter reported Friday. Molen wrote that Iran is not a trustworthy negotiating partner, and that the agreement will allow it to obtain nuclear weapons down the line.

Molen also expressed concern that Iran will use money freed up in the deal with the relief of sanctions to finance terrorism against Israel.

“Can we trust Iran? Do they not deny the Holocaust? Do they not invest in terror organizations?” Molen wrote, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “This will more than likely push the inevitable nuclear crises out of many of the signers’ lifetimes and onto the backs of their grandchildren or great-grandchildren.”

Molen, a critic of President Barack Obama, also produced “2016: Obama’s America,” an anti-Obama documentary written and directed by the conservative activist Dinesh D’Souza.

The open letter, published Thursday in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, has 98 signatories, including television producer Norman Lear, architect Frank Gehry and “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner. The letter says the agreement, which removes sanctions from Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program, is the best way to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“For far too long, Iran was actively developing and expanding its nuclear infrastructure, closing the gap to a nuclear weapon,” the letter says. “This agreement, negotiated by the United States, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, and Russia, halts and rolls back this dangerous march through verifiable and measured steps.”