JNS
“I think it would be bad for Israel to have a man who has misled the Congress and the American people about the nuclear deal with Iran,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told JNS of Lew’s nomination.
Three members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are fully opposed to the Biden administration’s nomination of Jack Lew as U.S. ambassador to Israel, the Republican senators told JNS on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Lew testified before the committee as the Biden administration sought to fast-track his confirmation, due in large part to the urgency of war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, and the possibility of a larger regional conflagration.
“One of the things I heard from Jack Lew was his support for Israel, which I thought was positive. Unfortunately, his actions in the Obama administration are inconsistent with the position he’s taken,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), a member of the committee, told JNS.
“I’m certain that he does have passion and compassion for the people of Israel without any question,” added Scott, who is running for president. “However, his leadership as a part of the Obama administration raises real questions about his support of the JCPOA or the nuclear deal.” (The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is also referred to as the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.)
Lew, who served as White House chief of staff and Treasury secretary under former President Barack Obama, drew criticism from Republicans for his advocacy of the Iran deal and allegedly misleading statements that he gave Congress about how the JCPOA would be implemented. He is accused of keeping key details secret.
“Being prepared to be the ambassador to Israel means that you have to have unequivocal support for the nation of Israel,” Scott told JNS.
Lew’s stewardship of the JCPOA, which paved the way for billions of dollars to be sent to Iran and its terror proxies, and which created “a runway to a nuclear Iran” are disqualifying, according to Scott.
The Biden administration announced Lew’s nomination last month to fill the void left by Thomas Nides, who resigned from his ambassadorial role in Jerusalem during the summer. He said that he wanted to spend more time with his family in the United States.
Not a time for lecturing
An Orthodox Jew, Lew sought to portray himself as staunchly pro-Israel on Wednesday, regaling senators with stories about his family’s Zionist roots and testifying to his efforts to implement and enforce sanctions on Iran and Hamas.
“I cannot remember a time when Israel’s struggle for security was not at the forefront of my mind,” he said.
“Iran is a threat to regional stability and to Israel’s existence,” he told committee members. “If confirmed, I will uphold President [Joe] Biden’s commitment to deny Iran a nuclear weapon.”
Lew countered Republicans by saying he followed the JCPOA to the letter. He also claimed that he would prioritize the return of all the American hostages Hamas is holding while staying out of Israel’s way as it seeks to destroy the terrorist organization that rules the Gaza Strip.
“This is not the time for us to be lecturing Israel on what they need to do,” he said.
Israeli government and military officials are aware they have to conduct operations “in a way that is consistent with minimizing the impact on innocent civilians,” Lew said.
His remarks did little to assuage Republicans.
Scott told JNS he doesn’t know how colleagues will vote, but he noted that Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) leveled criticism at Lew that was similar to Scott’s.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told JNS that Lew as a U.S. ambassador to Israel “would be bad for the United States.”
“I think it would be bad for Israel to have a man who has misled the Congress and the American people about the nuclear deal with Iran,” he said.
Lew “promised” that Iran would not have access to the U.S. financial system while leading the Treasury, Cotton added. “Just a few months later, he gave them exactly that access to convert almost $6 billion worth of Iranian assets into U.S. dollars, and then he lied to the Congress about it,” he said.
Lew “cannot be trusted” by Congress or the U.S. and Israeli public, according to Cotton.
“I know Democrats are saying the confirmation shows our support for Israel. I would argue it’s the exact opposite,” Cotton said. “Defeating his nomination shows that we have a new tough approach to Iran.”
Squarely in the ‘no’ column
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told JNS that Lew’s testimony on Wednesday was “very disappointing,” calling Lew the “embodiment” of the Biden administration’s “policies of appeasement giving billions of dollars to a theocratic, homicidal and genocidal maniac.”
Cruz linked the funding, which the JCPOA freed up for Iranian use, to the massive amounts that he said Iran spent preparing Hamas for its assault on Israel.
“Tragically, the result is the worst war in the Middle East and the worst attack on Israel in 50 years,” Cruz said.
All three Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with whom JNS spoke said they were squarely in the “no” column on Lew.
A Democratic majority on the committee means there is little Republicans can do to thwart Lew’s nomination outright, though procedural measures can be used to complicate and slow down the process before a final vote can take place in front of the full Senate.
“I know that your confirmation can be done by one party alone, and you’re likely to be confirmed on that basis. But that being said, there are a few things I’d like to pass along to you, assuming that you do become ambassador,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told Lew during the hearing.
Romney told Lew that he was “very troubled” by the investigation that found that the Obama administration had misled Congress on Iran and that he had concerns—given the fungibility of monies—about the $6 billion that the Biden administration had sought to deliver to Tehran for humanitarian purposes.
