President Biden’s nominee to be ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, has won Senate confirmation, though the vast majority of Republicans objected due to the role he played in negotiating and enforcing the 2015 Iran nuclear nonproliferation agreement. Mr. Lew’s confirmation comes at a perilous time for both Israel and Congress, which has quickly devolved into infighting over Speaker Johnson’s proposed military aid package. 

The Senate voted 53-43 in favor of Mr. Lew, with all Democrats and only two Republicans — Senators Graham and Paul — voting to confirm. “We have approved with bipartisan support Jack Lew,” Senator Schumer said after the vote. “Mr. Lew is the right man for the job of ambassador to Israel. He is a capable public servant, a fierce ally to Israel, and commands a broad base of trust and respect.” 

Republicans previously said that Mr. Lew, in his role as secretary of the Treasury under President Obama, unintentionally aided Iran in its quest for the nuclear bomb by not enforcing necessary sanctions to prevent certain money from being transferred to the Islamic Republic. The top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Risch, said of the ambassadorship, “We need this thing filled. The problem I have is it needs to be filled with the right person. The only thing worse than having it empty would be having the wrong person there.”

At his confirmation hearing earlier this month, Mr. Lew made it clear that he had no regrets about his work on the Iran deal, but given the ongoing war at Israel and Iran’s reported involvement, the ambassador-designate said no deal should be broached until Israel is secure. 

“I worry deeply about the survival of the state of Israel,” he said. “I don’t think this is a moment for us to be negotiating with Iran. … An agreement not to have nuclear weapons would be a good thing, but this is not the moment.” 

At the committee vote to report out his nomination to the floor, the only aye vote from the GOP side was Dr. Paul, who said in a statement, “I found him to be a thoughtful individual who will strive to do his best to represent the United States in Israel. I also believe it to be important to have an ambassador during the current crisis in Israel.”

Mr. Lew had previously been confirmed by the Senate to serve in a number of executive branch positions, including as Treasury secretary, as director of the Office of Management and Budget, and as a deputy secretary of state. In all of those votes, Mr. Lew won overwhelming bipartisan support. 

The confirmation of Mr. Lew comes as Congress has descended into bickering about the Israel aid package Speaker Johnson proposed on Monday, which seeks to offset the $14.3 billion cost of the legislation by cutting the same amount from the Internal Revenue Service — money that was appropriated last year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act as Mr. Biden pushes for greater tax collection enforcement. 

Democrats recoiled from the plan, accusing Mr. Johnson of playing partisan games at a time of crisis. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz responded to the speaker’s offset by saying: “When your neighbor’s house is on fire, you don’t haggle over the price of the garden hose.”