Former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Oct. 18 for a hearing about his nomination to be U.S. Ambassador to Israel, which has come under attack by Hamas and Hezbollah over the past week.
Republicans are already sounding the alarm about Mr. Lew’s nomination.
“Jack Lew is an Iran sympathizer who has no business being our ambassador,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told Fox News on Oct. 15. “It’s bad for the United States, it’s bad for Israel to have an Iran sympathizer as our ambassador to that country. He helped Iran evade American sanctions, and he lied to Congress about it.”
Mr. Lew, as the head of the Treasury under President Barack Obama, defended the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, simply known as the Iran nuclear deal, which gave Iran billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for taking steps to slow down its nuclear weapons program.
One month before the final 2015 agreement was reached, Mr. Lew defended the Obama administration pursuing a nuclear accord with Iran in the first place.
“The framework we have established paves the way for an international agreement between Iran and America, Britain, France, Germany, the EU, Russia, and China to stop Iran from obtaining the most dangerous type of weapon the world has ever known,” Mr. Lew said. “The region and the world will be a more dangerous place if we fail, and a nuclear-armed Iran would be a more menacing supporter of terrorist groups and destabilizing regional forces.”
After all, he said, “A diplomatic solution is the best, most enduring path to achieve our goal of keeping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
After the Iran deal was reached, Mr. Lew advocated for it.
“Since the goal of sanctions is to pressure bad actors to change their policy, we must be prepared to provide relief from sanctions when they succeed,” he said at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. ”If we fail to follow through, we undermine our own credibility and damage our ability to use sanctions to drive policy change. … Since Iran has kept its end of the deal, it is our responsibility to uphold ours in both letter and spirit.”
Mr. Lew’s confirmation hearing comes as Israel has been defending itself since Hamas launched its attacks on Oct. 7.
As of press time, more than 4,000 people, including at least 30 U.S. citizens, have been killed. In response to the attacks, Israel has launched air strikes on Gaza, which Hamas controls. It also has attacked Hezbollah and IRGC targets north of Israel. The Jewish state has vowed to annihilate Hamas.
Given the dire situation in Israel, Senate Democrats have called for Mr. Lew to be sent to Jerusalem.
