{"id":106870,"date":"2023-09-06T17:05:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T15:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=106870"},"modified":"2023-09-06T13:57:13","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T11:57:13","slug":"11-05-93","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=106870","title":{"rendered":"Jewish Groups, Democrats Welcome Biden Pick for US Ambassador to Israel While Republicans Criticize Record"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Jewish Groups, Democrats Welcome Biden Pick for US Ambassador to Israel While Republicans Criticize Record<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Andrew Bernard<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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US President Joe Biden has nominated former US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, pictured here, to serve as the American ambassador to Israel. Photo: Alchetron.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that he will nominate former US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew as his ambassador to Israel in a move welcomed by Democrats and Jewish groups but challenged by some House Republicans.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), an outspoken pro-Israel voice in the US Congress, told\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/em>\u00a0that he looks forward to the confirmation of a new ambassador to \u201cAmerica\u2019s greatest friend \u2014 the state of Israel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe US-Israel relationship, as critical as ever, would be best served by a swift Senate confirmation of a new US ambassador,\u201d Torres said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before heading the US Treasury Department under former President Barack Obama, Lew served as Obama\u2019s chief of staff and as director of the Office of Management and Budget in the administrations of both Obama and Bill Clinton.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/i>\u00a0that as a political insider, Lew is a \u201cWashington choice\u201d who would also be in good standing with the Israelis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about a guy who\u2019s got years of experience. He understands the inside of the US government. He understands the bureaucracy. He understands the players,\u201d Schanzer said. \u201cThe Israelis have worked closely in the past with the Treasury Department on designations of Iranian entities, Hezbollah entities, Hamas entities, etc. So he\u2019s no stranger to the Israel file. And of course, he\u2019s also a devout Jew. So he will be understood by many Israelis. He will speak to those that wear kippot. They will have an understanding of who he is even before he arrives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Orthodox Union said in a statement that Lew, himself an Orthodox Jew, is a \u201cseasoned negotiator and dedicated public servant\u201d who would help foster deeper US-Israel ties. American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch said separately that Lew was an \u201cexceptional choice\u201d and that this was an \u201coutstanding nomination\u201d by Biden.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, some Republicans in the US House of Representatives have criticized Lew for his involvement in Obama-era policies they consider dangerous for Israel \u2014 such as finalizing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the official name for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal,\u00a0and not vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution that criticized Israeli settlement construction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week, Reps. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) and Max Miller (R-OH) led a letter with six other members of Congress urging Biden to reconsider Lew\u2019s then-prospective nomination, saying that he was one of the \u201cchief architects\u201d of the Iran nuclear deal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis deal, which failed to constrain Iran\u2019s nuclear production, was one of the greatest US foreign policy disasters of the 21st century,\u201d the letter said. \u201cHowever, the country that suffered the most as a result of the Iran nuclear deal was Israel, as Iran has stated repeatedly it intends to use a nuclear weapon to destroy Israel. Despite the harm he has caused to American and Israeli national security, Lew is apparently being rewarded with an important ambassadorship.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tenney repeated her criticism of the nomination on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJack Lew has proven he is the wrong man for the job and this nomination is reckless,\u201d she posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. \u201cAt a time when the relationship between the US & Israel is of utmost importance, we need an ambassador that works to reaffirm our nation\u2019s unfailing support for Israel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lew\u2019s nomination comes at a challenging moment in US-Israel relations, as\u00a0Biden has been vocally critical<\/a>\u00a0of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s proposed judicial reforms and his policies in the West Bank.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen welcomed Lew\u2019s nomination on Tuesday, Lew\u2019s predecessor Tom Nides faced extensive criticism from Israeli politicians who\u00a0accused him of\u00a0intervening in Israel\u2019s domestic politics<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI say to the American ambassador, slam the breaks on yourself and mind your own business,\u201d Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said in February regarding Nides\u2019 call for the Israeli government to modify its judicial reform initiative. \u201cYou\u2019re not the sovereign here. We\u2019d be happy to debate with you international or security affairs, but respect our democracy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lew will also likely be involved in the ongoing negotiations to strike a deal to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but Schanzer said that the biggest hurdles to such a deal are Saudi Arabia\u2019s demands for a US-Saudi defense pact, the Saudi request to enrich its own uranium, and getting the Israeli government to agree to concessions to the Palestinians.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe things that the Saudis are asking for from the American side are already very challenging,\u201d Schanzer said. \u201cAnd then after that comes the question of what the Israelis are willing to give up. The coalition partners in this government are likely not going to be willing to make any significant concessions, but Netanyahu will. And that is ultimately the thing to watch \u2014 [Netanyahu] himself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jewish Groups, Democrats Welcome Biden Pick for US Ambassador to Israel While Republicans Criticize Record Andrew Bernard US President Joe Biden has nominated former US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, pictured here, to serve as the American ambassador to Israel. Photo: Alchetron. US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that he will nominate former US Treasury […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106870"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=106870"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106886,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106870\/revisions\/106886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=106870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=106870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=106870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}