Senate Democrats are looking to quickly confirm President Biden’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jacob J. Lew, as war rages between the U.S. ally and Hamas.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold Mr. Lew’s confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
But the process will kick off amid Republican opposition to Mr. Lew’s handling of Iran during the Obama administration, because Tehran is under the microscope for its funding of the Hamas terror group.
Republican senators have long scrutinized Mr. Lew for his approval as Mr. Obama’s Treasury secretary in 2016 of a $400 million cash transfer to Iran as part of a $1.7 billion settlement related to a long-running disagreement over a decades-old arms deal.
Mr. Lew has also faced accusations of lying to Congress in 2015 about the Obama administration’s Iran nuclear deal, and faced further criticism in 2016 for not supporting the veto of a United Nations resolution condemning Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory.
“Jack Lew is an Iranian sympathizer who has no business being the U.S. ambassador to Israel,” Arkansas GOP Sen. Tom Cotton, who’s leading the resistance, posted on social media over the weekend. “The Senate should not confirm him.”
Sen. Marco Rubio, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, also opposes Mr. Lew.
“We need to have an ambassador in Israel, but it has to be the right person,” the Florida Republican wrote on X.
Advancing American Freedom, a conservative nonprofit founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, said Mr. Lew lacks the ability to present a “united front against Hamas and Iran and send a clear message that there will be no softness or slack when dealing with these hostile powers.”
But without convincing all of their Republican colleagues — much less at least one or two Democrats — it appears that opposing GOP senators will only be able to delay the inevitable confirmation of Mr. Lew. Presidential nominees require a simple majority to confirm or reject.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Mr. Lew must be confirmed to the vacant post amid Israel’s war with Hamas “as quickly as possible” and “without any costly partisan delays.”
“Mr. Lew has long proven himself a strong public servant, a ferocious ally of Israel,” the New York Democrat said Monday. “Delaying him would be egregious at a time like this. We must move him quickly, and I hope we will.”
The Biden administration is facing mounting bipartisan pressure to more aggressively counter Iran, which has long provided Hamas with weaponry, training and funding. Direct ties between Hamas’ surprise assault on Israel and Iran have not been made, but U.S. officials emphasize the Iranian regime is partly to blame for propping up the terrorist organization.
Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have called on Mr. Biden to block the release of $6 billion in Iranian oil assets that were unfrozen as part of a deal with Tehran in September in exchange for five wrongly detained Americans. The White House has confirmed the U.S. has a “quiet understanding” with Qatar, which is holding the funds, not to release the money, but officials have declined to comment further.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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