Israel is at war and the forces of terror are once again on the march in the Middle East. In this time of peril, America needs a reliable, honest, and forthright ambassador to Israel with a record of defending the Jewish State. President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, is none of these things.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
While serving as then-President Barack Obama\u2019s secretary of Treasury, Lew championed the Iran nuclear deal and was instrumental in its implementation. Lew called the agreement with Iran, which delivered over $100 billion in sanctions relief to Israel\u2019s greatest enemy, a \u2018strong deal\u2019 and said that \u2018it will make our country safer, it will make our allies safer, and it will make the world safer.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Our allies in Israel disagreed. In fact, Prime Minister Netanyahu called the agreement, \u2018a very bad deal.\u2019 An Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University poll found that 73% of Jewish Israelis believed that the deal posed an \u2018existential threat\u2019 to their nation. Attendees booed and jeered Lew when he spoke in defense of the agreement at the 2015 annual conference of the Jerusalem Post \u2014 one of Israel\u2019s largest newspaper publications.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
Netanyahu was so opposed to the Iran deal, which Lew championed, that he traveled to the United States and addressed a joint session of Congress to urge congressional opposition. Lew condemned Netanyahu\u2019s speech as \u2018beyond the pale\u2019 and a \u2018huge mistake.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
In his final days in office, Obama took his revenge on Netanyahu by refusing to veto a United Nations security resolution condemning Israel. Lew defended the decision, sneering that \u2018I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a great thing for Israel to always have only the United States standing between it and condemnation.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Lew didn\u2019t just advocate on behalf of the Iran deal or attack its Israeli critics; he lied to Congress to protect it. Lew told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Iran \u2018will continue to be denied access to the [U.S.\u2019s] financial and commercial market.\u2019 \u00a0<\/p>\n
He also stated that, \u2018Iranian banks will not be able to clear U.S. dollars through New York, hold correspondent account relationships with U.S. financial institutions, or enter into financing arrangements with U.S. banks. Iran, in other words, will continue to be denied access to the world\u2019s largest financial and commercial market.\u2019<\/p>\n
Seven months later, Lew\u2019s Treasury Department granted a license to convert Iranian assets worth billions of dollars into American currency using our financial system. His department even pressured two American banks to complete the transaction. He either lied during his testimony or made himself a liar when he broke his word. Both are contemptible \u2014 one is criminal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n