Biden’s Israel envoy pick appears poised to squeak through confirmation process
Republicans grill Jack Lew over having helped negotiate Iran deal but acknowledge that they don’t have the votes to stop his approval and that delaying it would be futile
US President Joe Biden’s nominee to be ambassador Jack Lew appeared poised to squeak through his confirmation process, with Republicans during his Wednesday Senate confirmation hearing expressing their disapproval of former president Barack Obama’s treasury secretary and chief of staff but acknowledging that they don’t have the votes to block his approval.
“I know that your confirmation can be done by one party alone, and you’re likely to be confirmed on that basis,” Sen. Mitt Romney told Lew during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
The Republicans criticized Lew for his role in the Obama White House when it negotiated the Iran nuclear agreement in 2015, among other foreign policy moves. The deal with Iran — the chief sponsor of Hamas — was later scuttled by former president Donald Trump. Biden has sought to resurrect the pact, which would provide Tehran with billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for the country agreeing to roll back its nuclear program.
Lew indicated that he believes that further talks on the issue should be on hold, at least for now. “I don’t think this is the moment to be negotiating with Iran,” he said.
While Republicans don’t have the votes to block Lew’s confirmation, individual members do have the power to significantly delay the process as they have done with countless other Biden nominees. In the weeks before the Gaza war broke out, Sen. Ted Cruz had indicated he would take such a step against Lew.
However, he appeared to backtrack on Wednesday, telling Jewish Insider doing so could well be futile since Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is already expected to expedite the process by calling a full-Senate vote in the coming weeks.
During the confirmation hearing, Lew told senators that he would “ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself” and would work with the US ally to end the attacks by Hamas if he were confirmed.
Lew promised to coordinate with the international community and address the humanitarian crisis facing civilians in Gaza amid Israeli military strikes. His hearing came as Biden visited Israel to reinforce US support and try to ease tensions in the latest war with Hamas.
“At this moment, there is no greater mission than to be asked to strengthen the ties between the United States and the State of Israel and to work toward peace in a region that has known so much war and destruction,” Lew said in his opening statement.
Lew was nominated by Biden last month after Tom Nides left as ambassador in July. Democrats say Lew’s wealth of government experience — he also was chief of staff to Obama and White House budget director under Obama and President Bill Clinton — makes him the right person to fill the post at a critical moment in the two countries’ relationship.
“Hamas has started a war,” said Sen. Ben Cardin, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as he began the hearing. “Given the dangerous state of emergency that Israel faces, the United States needs a confirmed US ambassador in Jerusalem.”
War erupted on October 7 after some 2,500 Hamas terrorists burst across the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, air and sea, killing over 1,400 people and seizing 200-250 hostages of all ages under the cover of a deluge of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns and cities. The vast majority of those killed as gunmen seized border communities were civilians — men, women, children and the elderly. Entire families were executed in their homes, and over 260 were slaughtered at an outdoor festival, many amid horrific acts of brutality by the terrorists, in what Biden has highlighted as “the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
Cardin, Democrat of Maryland, has said Lew, who goes by Jack, is “an outstanding, qualified person” and that it is urgent to have a confirmed ambassador to help Israel as it navigates the new war, works to release hostages held by Hamas and deals with increasing concerns about tensions on the northern border with Hezbollah. Cardin said it is also important to “keep normalization talks alive” that could improve diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab countries in the region.
The committee is expected to vote next week, bringing the confirmation to a full Senate vote.
Lew defended his work in the Obama White House and called Iran an “evil, malign government.”
“I want to be clear — Iran is a threat to regional stability and to Israel’s existence,” Lew said. “If confirmed, I will uphold President Biden’s warning to anyone in the region who might try to take advantage of the current crisis: don’t.”
Lew expressed sympathy for the civilians on both sides who have been injured or killed in the fighting. It must end, Lew said, “but it has to end with Israel’s security being guaranteed.”
Lew, who is an Orthodox Jew, said he cannot remember a time in his life “when Israel’s struggle for security was not at the forefront of my mind.”
His pledge to get Israel what it needs comes as the White House has told lawmakers that it is considering a request of between $90 billion and $100 billion for the wars in Israel and Ukraine and for Taiwan as it faces threats from China, according to four people familiar with the conversations. The request to Congress would cover a year, according to another person familiar with the Biden administration’s expected request. The people requested anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and because the funding request is not final.
The White House could make a formal request for the foreign war aid as soon as this week. Though there is near-unanimous support for Israel in Congress, a $100 billion package if that is what the Democratic administration requests, could face major obstacles because some Republicans have balked at linking the money for Israel with the war in Ukraine. Also, the House has been in chaos since Republicans unexpectedly ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., two weeks ago and is for now unable to pass legislation.
Schumer said Wednesday that the Senate must act as “a steady, bipartisan force.”
“At this moment of crisis in Israel, and of chaos in the House of Representatives, the Senate must step into the breach and stand firmly together to get emergency military and humanitarian aid to Israel,” said Schumer, D-NY.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has also strongly supported linking aid for the two countries and Taiwan but said it would have to come with additional measures to help control immigration at the US border. McConnell would not say whether he supported Lew’s confirmation.
The Times of Israel Community.