The US Senate voted almost along party lines on Tuesday to confirm former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew as the next US ambassador to Israel, as Republicans denounced the former Cabinet official as an “architect of the era’s Iran deal.” Obama.”
The upper house voted 53-43 to send Lew to Jerusalem as the Jewish state wages war against Hamas terrorists, and all Democrats, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC ), they supported President Biden’s candidate. .
Four Republicans (Mike Lee of Utah, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Tim Scott of South Carolina and Thom Tillis of North Carolina) did not vote.
Paul and Graham also voted with Democrats to end debate on Lew’s nomination earlier Tuesday, and the Kentucky senator was the only Republican to support Lew in an earlier committee vote.
Israel carried out airstrikes against senior Hamas commanders and began a ground assault in northern Gaza following the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack that killed more than 1,400 people, including at least 33 Americans.
The US Senate voted almost along party lines Tuesday to confirm former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew as the next US ambassador to Israel. Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock The upper house voted 53-43 to send Lew to Jerusalem amid the Jewish state’s ongoing war. with Hamas terrorists, with the support of Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).AFP via Getty Images
The jihadists also took more than 200 people hostage and carried out a campaign of atrocities against women and children.
Lew was confirmed as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pushed a joint $106 billion package that includes aid for Israel and Ukraine.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has opposed the comprehensive plan, favoring a separate House vote on the $14.3 billion in aid to Israel requested by the president, prompting a fight with the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Paul and Graham also voted with Democrats to end the filibuster and head to a final confirmation vote on Tuesday.
Schumer called Lew “a fierce ally of Israel” and thanked the Foreign Relations Committee for voting 12-9 to bring his nomination to the floor.
“I am proud to say that the Senate has taken an extremely important step in our support for Israel: we have approved, with bipartisan support, Jack Lew to serve as the United States ambassador to Israel,” Schumer said after the vote.
“With Israel fending off Hamas, this embassy is as important and timely as any nomination the Senate has confirmed in a long time,” he continued. “Mr. Lew is the right man for the position of ambassador to Israel: he is a capable public servant, a fierce ally of Israel and has a broad base of trust and respect. And he is a decent and humane man.”
“When my colleagues and I met with the Israeli government, we promised to send them an ambassador as soon as possible, and today the Senate has fulfilled that promise,” Schumer added.
Lew’s confirmation vote comes as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) expressed unity in voting in favor of aid. United States to Israel.AFP via Getty Images
But Senate Republicans disagreed.
“I simply opposed the nomination of Jack Lew to be ambassador to Israel,” said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). published in X.
“We should fully support Israel, but this architect of the Obama-era Iran deal paved the way for the regime to inflict its damage today.”
In a Fox News op-ed published Monday, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) also criticized Lew for supporting the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which provided sanctions relief in exchange for a reduction in Iran’s uranium reserves.
In a Fox News op-ed on Monday, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) also criticized Lew for supporting the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
“Lew called the Iran deal, which delivered more than $100 billion in sanctions relief to Israel’s biggest enemy, a ‘solid deal’ and said it ‘will make our country safer, it will make our allies safer. safer and will make the world safer.’ safer,’” Cotton wrote.
“Our allies in Israel did not agree. In fact, Prime Minister Netanyahu called the deal ‘a very bad deal,’” the Arkansas Republican added, referring to Netanyahu’s March 2015 speech to the U.S. Congress.
Tom Nides, the last Senate-confirmed U.S. ambassador to Israel, left the Biden administration in July, leaving Stephanie Hallett as the embassy’s top official.
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