Former US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is frontrunner for the post of US ambassador to Israel, Axios reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.
Lew, 67, who also served as Barack Obama’s budget director and as White House chief of staff, could be nominated by President Joe Biden in the coming weeks, Axios reported. Lew has reportedly told former White House colleagues he’s interested in the job.
Other candidates include Stuart Eizenstat, a former US ambassador to the European Union; and three former Democratic members of Congress, Robert Wexler, Steve Israel and Ted Deutch, now CEO of the American Jewish Committee, according to sources Axios didn’t identify.
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Biden hasn’t made a final decision, the news outlet cited a US official as saying. The White House and a representative for Lew declined to comment to Axios.
Former ambassador Tom Nides departed his post in Jerusalem in July after less than two years.
White House Says Slim Majority on Israeli Vote Is ‘Unfortunate’
Whoever replaces Nides will have to navigate US-Israel relations which turned tricky after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently approved a law that will curb the oversight powers of the courts with a slim majority. The White House called the move “unfortunate.”
