‘This Is Not the Moment’: US Ambassador to Israel Nominee Opposes Iran Negotiations for Now

The Biden administration’s nominee to become the next US ambassador to Israel on Wednesday told a Senate hearing that he was opposed to negotiating with Iran at this time.

Speaking at his nomination hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jack Lew, a longtime Washington insider who served as Treasury Secretary during the Obama administration, faced questions about his past involvement in talks with Iran and the Biden administration’s current efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

“I don’t think this is the moment for us to be negotiating with Iran,” Lew said. “I believe deeply that an agreement to not have nuclear weapons would be a good thing, but this is not the moment.”

Lew, who is Jewish, also testified to the committee about what the state of Israel means to him personally.

“I could answer that question as a former public official that it is our most important ally in a critically important region of the world,” Lew said. “I could answer it as somebody who grew up believing that the safety and security of the state of Israel was nothing less than the safety and security of Jews all over the world.”

Lew said in his opening remarks that part of his job would be helping Israel respond to Hamas’ massacre of over 1,400 Israelis since Oct. 7, when the Palestinian terrorist group invaded the Jewish state and also took dozens of people back to Gaza as hostages.

“The savage attack demands the condemnation of the world,” Lew said. “And President Biden has made clear that the United States stands with Israel and its efforts to defend itself. I will do my utmost to end the horrific attacks by Hamas and ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself. And I will spare no effort on working to help American citizens now captive to return home safely. And I will work to root out payments to terrorists and their families as rewards for their heinous crimes.”

Some Republicans on the committee criticized Lew for his role as an Obama administration official supporting and implementing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — the formal name for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal — and the consequent release of funds to Iran. The Iranian regime is believed to provide Hamas with approximately $100 million a year.

“You were a critical player in the Obama administration’s campaign of appeasement with Iran,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). “You played a pivotal role in flooding over $100 billion to the Iranian regime. The Biden administration has continued that policy, flooding nearly an additional $100 billion to the Iranian regime. That policy of appeasement, sending hundreds of billions of dollars to a theocratic, homicidal, genocidal maniac who leads chants of ‘death to America’ and ‘death to Israel’ has proven catastrophic. The death squads in Israel from Hamas are funded in real and meaningful ways by the billions of dollars the Obama administration and now the Biden administration [have] flowed directly to Iran.”

Lew said that Cruz’s statements were not an accurate reflection of the Obama administration’s record.

“I sanctioned Hamas in 2015 and Hamas was sanctioned again today. So I don’t think it was a fair characterization of either what I did or this administration,” Lew said.

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