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Senate confirms Jack Lew as US ambassador to Israel
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The U.S. Senate approved Jack Lew, the Jewish former treasury secretary, to be ambassador to Israel, a process that Democratic leaders sought to accelerate as Israel wages war with Hamas.
The 53-43 vote was mostly along party lines, with two Republicans — Rand Paul and Lindsey Graham — joining 51 Democrats.
Both sides cited the urgency of the moment in making their cases. Democrats noted Lew’s close ties to Israel, and Republicans said his work on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal made him a poor choice during a time that Iranian proxy groups are engaging in direct warfare with Israel.
Sen. Ben Cardin, a Jewish Maryland Democrat who is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Jewish Democrat who is the majority leader, rushed Lew’s nomination to the floor over Republican objections.
“The Senate has now taken an extremely important step in its support for Israel,” Schumer said after the vote. “This confirmation is as important and as timely as any confirmation in recent times.”
Schumer said two-way communication was critical when an ally was at war.
“It means Israel’s messages will be relayed appropriately to our government but it also means our messages will be sent appropriately to Israel’s government,” he said.
An accredited ambassador in place will facilitate the delivery of emergency defense assistance to Israel, which is now under consideration in Congress. The office will also play a central role in freeing the dozens of Americans believed to be among the 240 or so hostages held by Hamas after its Oct. 7 invasion of Israel.
Lew would additionally help negotiate the terms of delivering humanitarian relief to Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, which is under Israeli attack.
Lew, who also served as President Barack Obama’s chief of staff before leading the Treasury Department, has drawn words of support from Jewish leaders in Washington who pointed to his experience in public office, his skills as a negotiator, his involvement in Jewish life and his close relationship with Jewish organizations.
He earned a reputation for resolving complex negotiations during his two stints as director of the Office of Management and Budget under Obama as well as President Bill Clinton. He has spoken publicly about balancing his Orthodox observance with government work and has encouraged young observant Jews to go into public service,
Republicans who opposed Lew cited his role as treasury secretary when Obama brokered the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
“I understand it’s important to move as quickly as we can to have an ambassador in Jerusalem,” said Sen. James Risch, the Idaho Republican who is the top Republican on the committee. “We are at an important moment in history with the events in Israel. This makes the stakes so much higher and important that we get it right.”
Risch and other Republicans said that as treasury secretary, Lew’s oversight of the Iran nuclear deal, which traded sanctions relief for a rollback of Iran’s nuclear program, overly favored Iran.
“Hamas would not exist if it was not for Iran,” Risch said. “Iran arms and trains them, it finances and directs them.”
Risch said Lew deceived Congress about the degree to which he facilitated sanctions relief to Iran. “I want to support Israel,” he said. “I think everybody on this floor wants to support Israel. The last thing we need is somebody who is very contrary to our view on how Iran should be handled.”
Cardin, known for his laidback approach to legislation, exhibited rare fury with his colleagues, whom he said distorted Lew’s record and falsely accused him of lying.
“It’s just not right to say he misled us!” Cardin shouted. “He did not!”
Cardin noted that Lew was backed by a broad range of organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Orthodox Union, a group whose constituents trend politically conservative. He also cited Lew’s long involvement in pro-Israel and Jewish groups. Lew’s confirmation “gives us the person as our representative to Israel that has the gravitas to stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel,” Cardin said.
Cardin added that when he visited Israel in the days after the war started as part of a bipartisan delegation, he heard from Israeli officials that they were eager to work with Lew.
“Israel needs a strong U.S. ambassador who will represent America and be their partner intaking on one of the greatest struggles in their history, from the terrorist Hamas and what they did on Oct. 7,” he said.
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The post Senate confirms Jack Lew as US ambassador to Israel appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.