The US Senate voted almost along party lines Tuesday to confirm former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew as the next US ambassador to Israel, as Republicans denounced the former Cabinet official as “the architect of the Obama-era Iran deal.”
The upper chamber voted 53-43 to send Lew to Jerusalem as the Jewish state waged war against Hamas terrorists, with each Democrat, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) supporting President-elect Biden.
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 the previous committee vote.
Israel has carried out airstrikes targeting senior Hamas commanders and launched a ground offensive in northern Gaza following the terror group’s October 7 attack that killed more than 1,400 people, including at least 33 Americans.
The US Senate voted almost along party lines on 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 Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).AFP via Getty Images
The jihadists also took more than 200 hostages and carried out a campaign of brutality against women and children.
Lew was confirmed as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have pushed for 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 vote in the lower house on the $14.3 billion in Israeli aid requested by the president, setting off 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.AP
Schumer called Lew a “vicious ally of Israel” and thanked the Foreign Relations Committee for voting 12-9 to move his nomination to the floor.
“The Senate, I’m proud to say, has now taken a very important step in our support of Israel—we have approved, with bipartisan support, Jack Lew to serve as US Ambassador to Israel,” Schumer said after the vote.
“With Israel defending itself against Hamas, this embassy is as important and timely as any nomination that has been confirmed by the Senate in a long time,” he said. “Mr. Lew is the right person for the job 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 good and humane man.”
“When my colleagues and I met with the Israeli government, we promised to send an ambassador to them as soon as possible, and today the Senate has honored that promise,” Schumer added.
Lew’s confirmation vote comes as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have expressed unity in voting for US aid to Israel. AFP via Getty Images
But Senate Republicans disagree.
“I only oppose the nomination of Jack Lew to be ambassador to Israel,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) posted on X.
“We should stand fully with Israel, but the architects of the Obama-era Iran deal paved the way for the regime to wreak havoc today.”
In a Fox News op-ed published Monday, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) also criticized Lew for supporting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action of 2015, which provided sanctions relief in exchange for reductions in Iran’s uranium stockpile.
In a Fox News op-ed on Monday, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) also criticized Lew for supporting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action 2015. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
“Lew called the deal with Iran, which gives more than $100 billion in sanctions relief to Israel’s biggest enemy, a ‘powerful deal’ and said that ‘it will make our country safer, it will make our allies safer, and it will make the world more safe,’” Cotton wrote.
“Our allies in Israel disagree. 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 US Congress.
Tom Nides, the last US ambassador to Israel confirmed by the Senate, left the Biden administration in July, leaving Stephanie Hallett as the top official at the embassy.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
