Senate Approves Jack Lew, Who Backed Obama’s Anti-Israel Policies, as Israel Ambassador

The Senate confirmed former treasury secretary Jack Lew as the new U.S. Ambassador to Israel on Tuesday, filling the position with an argumentative partisan who backed President Barack Obama’s anti-Israel policies to the hilt.

Lew’s supporters point to the fact that he is an observant Jew and the highest-ranking official ever to hold the ambassadorial post. But Lew’s record on Israel includes support for the kinds of policies that arguably weakened Israel and helped lead to the current crisis.

As Breitbart News reported last month:

Lew, a highly partisan official infamous for his inability to say “yes” to Republicans during budget negotiations, also defended Obama’s attempt to create distance with Israel, and his disastrous, one-sided nuclear deal with Iran. That deal allowed Iran to emerge as a nuclear power after roughly a decade. Moreover, Lew criticized then-President Donald Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem — a decision that led to the Abraham Accords.

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Lew’s role in backing the Iran deal is particularly important, as Obama’s Treasury Department unraveled the sanctions that had previously been applied to the Iranian regime and its vast range of terror and criminal activities.

Lew has also been critical of current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who frustrated Obama’s policies.

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Lew, if confirmed, would replace outgoing ambassador Tom Nides, who brought U.S.-Israel relations to a new low ,and was blamed for being the “arsonist-in-chief” for his role in encouraging recent opposition protests in Israel.

Iran has used the financial windfall of the Iran deal to fund the activities of its terrorist proxies throughout the region, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Lew was confirmed by a 53-43 vote.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.