Republicans Try To Torpedo Biden’s Nominee To Be Ambassador to Israel Over Iran Deal

President Biden’s nominee for United States ambassador to Israel, Jacob Lew, will receive expedited consideration by the Senate in the coming days as the Jewish state faces an existential threat from terrorism. Despite the threat, Republicans are insistent that Mr. Lew’s involvement in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal should disqualify him from getting the job.During Mr. Lew’s confirmation hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Cardin said in his opening statement that, “given the dangerous state of emergency Israel faces, the United States needs a confirmed U.S. ambassador in Jerusalem. We need someone there to reinforce the message that the United States stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the state of Israel.”Mr. Lew, who served as secretary of the Treasury and White House chief of staff under President Obama, said in the hearing that he would make defending Israel’s right to exist by building coalitions within the region and throughout the developed world his key priority as the war rages. The top Republican on the committee, Senator Risch, did not sound optimistic that the GOP would broadly get behind the nominee. “We need this thing filled,” he said. “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.”Senate Republicans have made Mr. Lew’s lifting of sanctions on Iran — in his role as Treasury secretary — a key sticking point for his confirmation. None of the 49 GOP members of the Senate have said they will support the nominee, and neither has Senator Sinema.Senator Manchin, in a statement released Tuesday, announced he would vote for Mr. Lew’s confirmation. “I have known Jack Lew to be an honest and straightforward person throughout his many years in public service, and we have remained friends through those years despite our differing views on the Iran Deal in 2015,” the West Virginian wrote. “After speaking with him multiple times and given his nomination for the position of Ambassador to Israel, our closest ally in the Middle East, Jack has agreed to support pushing to enforce and strengthen sanctions and other points of leverage … against Iran,” he added.Republicans, though, do have the ability to filibuster Mr. Lew’s nomination, which would mean the voting threshold is raised to 60. No Republicans have publicly floated that idea, though. At multiple times throughout his confirmation hearing earlier this month, protesters interrupted the proceedings by holding up signs and shouting “ceasefire” and accusing Israel of committing “genocide” at Gaza. Mr. Risch pointed out that Hamas is “impotent without Iran,” a state that he says benefited greatly from Mr. Lew’s time at the Department of the Treasury. “Iran has more resources to support terrorism today than it did in 2019. … U.S. sanctions enforcement by this administration has been utterly lacking. Iran has earned a shocking $80 billion since this administration took office.”“You played a key role in supporting the Obama administration’s nuclear negotiations” with Iran, Mr. Risch said of the nominee. As Treasury secretary, Mr. Lew was instrumental in unfreezing Iranian funds and lifting key sanctions on the Islamic Republic as part of the Iran nuclear deal. Mr. Lew defended his record, saying that, as a Jew and as a government figure, he understands the vital importance of the Jewish state. “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.” Multiple senators tell the Sun that they are unsure if Mr. Lew can win the votes to be confirmed as America’s ambassador to the Jewish state, though it is nearly certain that he will make it through the committee vote on Thursday.Senator Murkowski said she has yet to meet with the nominee but is open to supporting him depending on how the conversation goes. When asked if he would support Mr. Lew, Senator Graham simply said, “I don’t know.” Senator Cornyn said he was “leaning no” after the confirmation hearing, and told the Sun that there is a large bloc within the Senate GOP that will fight the nomination tooth and nail. One typically bipartisan member of the body, Senator Tillis, gave an emphatic “no” when asked if he would back the nominee. Two Democratic members of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senators Murphy and Van Hollen, tell the Sun they are unsure if Mr. Lew will win any Republican votes, but they feel the GOP’s invocation of the Iran deal is not relevant to the current crisis. “This is a vote on Jack Lew,” not on the Iran deal, Mr. Murphy said. “I haven’t seen any Democrats come out against him yet. He deserves to get a bunch of Republican votes, but I don’t know.” Mr. Van Hollen was also unsure, saying, “I believe all Democrats will support Jack Lew. … I hope he will get a good amount of Republican support, but we’ll have to find out later this week. You probably witnessed the hearing, so it’s hard for me to judge.”

Republicans Try To Torpedo Biden’s Nominee To Be Ambassador to Israel Over Iran Deal

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