Biden nominates former Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew as ambassador to Israel

President Joe Biden announced that he plans on nominating former Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew to serve as the ambassador to Israel.

Lew, who served as Treasury Secretary, White House chief of staff and Office of Management and Budget director under the Obama administration, would be replacing Ambassador Tom Nides, who left the position in July.

If confirmed by the Senate, Lew would be assuming the position of ambassador at a particularly tense time for U.S.-Israel relations, as the Biden administration has been criticizing Israel's judicial reform plans, calling prayer at Judaism's holiest site "unacceptable," among other things. 

The Biden administration is also pushing for Israel to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia.

The attempt to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia comes after the Trump administration helped create the "Abraham Accords," which normalized relations with Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.

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