By SHAUN TANDON
4:36PM SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 (The Australian) https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/biden-taps-political-veteran-lew-as-israel-envoy/news-story/4c1867aeaae3c89b2ffac43f27b3fda9)
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday nominated former Treasury secretary Jack Lew to be ambassador to Israel, tapping a veteran political player with close ties to the Jewish state at a turbulent time between the allies.
Mr Lew, an Orthodox Jew who observes the weekly sabbath, will play a key role in managing the relationship as Mr Biden attempts to broker a potentially historic deal for Saudi Arabia to recognise Israel.
The nomination comes after a spike in tensions, with Mr Biden criticizing an overhaul of the judiciary by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in what critics say is a threat to democracy by the most right-wing government in Israel’s history. Mr Lew will need confirmation from the Senate, where Mr Biden’s Democratic Party retains control but Republicans ahead of the 2024 US election could fight against the nomination.
In a formal statement, the White House cited the “distinguished career in public service” of Mr Lew, who has served in successive Democrat administrations.
Under Barack Obama, Mr Lew – a trained lawyer – served as Treasury secretary and earlier as White House chief of staff and director of the Office of Management and Budget.
David Makovsky, a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that Mr Lew, while more of a budgetary than a foreign policy expert, would be the first former cabinet secretary to become ambassador to Israel.
“Having him there is a signal by the President that he greatly values the bilateral relationship and that he wants someone of stature,” said Mr Makovsky, a longtime friend of Mr Lew. “It’s going to come at a difficult time.”
Mr Lew, 68, would succeed Thomas Nides, another veteran Democrat political operative who made headlines with his unusually blunt language on Mr Netanyahu’s judicial reforms. Mr Nides cited personal reasons as he left the position. His wife, Virginia Moseley, is a senior executive at CNN who remained in the US during his tenure. In the latest outreach, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke separately on Tuesday with Mr Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, amid Saudi insistence on progress on the Palestinian issue before any normalisation.
Brett McGurk, co-ordinator for Middle East policy at the White House, is also visiting the region. Saudi Arabia has been seeking military and nuclear commitments from the US in return for recognising Israel, with official sources cautioning that no agreement is imminent.
Recognition of Israel by Saudi Arabia – guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites – would be a diplomatic game-changer and arguably top the accords negotiated by Donald Trump’s administration in which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalised ties with the Jewish state.