Senate Panel Advances Biden Nominee Jack Lew to be Ambassador to Israel

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced President Joe Biden’s nominee to be ambassador to Israel on Wednesday.

The panel favorably reported the nomination of Jack Lew, who served as Treasury secretary during the Obama administration, largely along party lines. The 12-9 vote — Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., crossed the aisle to back Lew alongside the committee’s 11 Democrats — clears Lew to be confirmed by the full chamber in the coming weeks. 

Lew testified before the committee last week, facing more questions about his role in a nuclear deal with Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism, than about Israel or his potential role as ambassador. 

Democrats have called for Lew to be confirmed quickly, citing the importance of having an ambassador for the nation’s top ally in the Middle East while Israel is at war with Hamas, whose terrorist attack on Oct. 7 killed the most Jewish people in a single day since the Holocaust.