Transcripts For CSPAN Confirmation 20240703

Omcast supports cspan as a Public Service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. As the israelhamas war continues President Bidens nominee jack lu testified and answered questions about Irans Nuclear deal when he was treasury secretary in the Obama Administration. Some republican lawmakers allege he was not forthcoming about the deals financial implementation. Mr. Lew denied those allegations. Senator cardin the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will come to order. Todays hearing carries great importance for the United States, israel and the region. The attacks by hamas over 10 days ago marked the deadliest day for jews since the holocaust. Abducting elderly, burning people alive and killing babies in front of parents, it was not only barbaric. Hamas has started a war. Given the state of emergency that israel faces, the United States needs a confirmed u. S. Ambassador in jerusalem. We need somewhere to reenforce that the United States stands with israel in response to the unprecedented terrorist attack. We need someone to lead the selfless personnel who have been working nonstop at mission israel. We need an ambassador to work with our israeli partners and provide help. Secretary lew, we hold this nomination today. I am committed to getting you in place in israel as soon as possible. I thank senator rich so we could expedite this hearing and we both agree that speed is of the essence. Im going to ask the cooperation of our colleagues and ask that questions for the record be submitted by close of Business Today and make every effort to get those responses to you by this weekend. We have scheduled a business meeting for next week for a vote on this nomination. I ask the committees cooperation because of the urgency of confirming ambassador. Hamas has killed more than 1,000 innocent people. They have killed hostages and Still Holding others including american citizens. I cannot overstate the urgency for the United States to have a confirmed ambassador on the ground to help deliver u. S. Support for israel and deal with the hostage situation and humanitarian needs that we know exists and need an ambassador who can speak with authority and engage diplomatically in the region. Secretary lew experience and political ac can you men makes him qualified to serve as the u. S. Ambassador to israel. Snroo we need to make sure the other nations and other terrorist groups. [indiscernible shouting] we need a cease fire now. Senator cardin now is not the time to pay political games. And dont open new fronts. We need to be clear with everyone. From hezbollah in lebanon to the regime in iran and assad in syria and putin in russia, dont think about joining or expanding the war. To that end we need to confirm ambassadors to other critical posts in the region. It would allow secretary lew to work with counterparts to make sure americans are safe and our interests are represented to the fullest extent. There is no shortages of challenges facing you. I look forward to how you look forward to address them and congress to support that. We need your eyes and ears to understand what is going on in jerusalem and we need to keep you pushing on normalization agreements between israel and saudi arabia and make it clear and our friends in trouble, the United States has their back. We need you confirmed. Without objection, i will enter into the record letters of support from the American Jewish committee and ant thy Defamation League and i turn to our Ranking Member. Thank you, chairman. We are here to support israel by filling a vacancy in the position for ambassador to israel. We have an acting there inst stephanie and doing a great job. She is very helpful to me. And we do have things being done there on the ground. We need this thing filled. It needs to be filled with the right person. And i have some issues in that regard which we are going to talk about and clear the air today one way or another. 18 years ago israel took the step of dismantling israeli settlements in gaza. [indiscernible shouting] and handing the territory to the Palestinian Authority. This has been a disaster. Israel faces an unprecedented crisis on the scale of september 11 attacks against the United States. Gunmen killed families, killed babies and dragged hostages across the border to gaza. They were brutal and horrific. We mourn the loss of israelis and americans and people from numerous from other countries. It is imperative that israel has the freedom to act until they get the job done. This happened to us at the end of world war ii. Nazis had taken over germany and marching across europe and our allies made the decision that the organization, the nazis, could not exist any further. And we didnt just go to battle to defeat germany on the battlefield, we went to war to defeat, dismantle and eliminate the nazis. We did that and it was difficult. We he eliminated as a Political Force and cultural force. Israelis are attempting to do the same thing with hamas. [indiscernible shouting] senator cardin let me make it clear, we will not tolerate interruptions in our hearing. You see whats going to be happening. Those that have strong views, there is a place to express it and not to disrupt it. I will not tolerate it. We saw calls for a cease fire. And restore deterrents. What happened in gaza is linked to iran, that is so important. What happened in gaza is directly linked to iran. Cannot wish away the iranian threat with promises of unfrozen. The attacks in israel and attacks against our troops and diplomats are proof. Iran is the supporter of hamas. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter, iran has more resources to support terrorism today than it did in 2019. U. S. Sanctions enforcement in this administration have been lacking. Iran has earned the shocking 80 billion in oil revenue since the Biden Administration took office. Irans oil economy once hobbled at 250,000 barrels a day are selling two Million Barrels of Oil Every Day knowsly to china. We know where that money is going. Now whopping 6 billion in south korea are completely unacceptable and make americans less safe. These attacks occurred immediately after the Biden Administration unfroze the 6 billion and 75 million directly over my strenuous objections. On palestinian policy, the Biden Administration argued that restoring funding that i objected would give the Palestinian Authority the leverage to promote palestinian voices and reform organizations. Two years later, we have seen no reform, violence is at record levels. And many palestinians identify with terror groups to meet their aspirations. It is time for wholesale reevaluation of palestinian policy. So today we are here to help israel and look at the vacancies that exists and the nominee that has been put before us to help israel. Secretary lew i have reservations on your appointment. Not only will you need to support israel as it responds to these attacks but also as it contends with the enduring and iranian threat which i think is underlying the foundational issue here. I have reservations about your ability to do that. You played a key role in supporting Obama Nuclear and i have concerns about transparency on the transfers of cash to the regime. You insisted that the transfers of cash do not free up iranian resources for terrorism activities. I agree with that assessment and it is alleged that you lied or misled us this very committee on that i have three items i want to insert in the record and i will, mr. Chairman. Two of them are Opinion Pieces from the Washington Post and third one is a report by the permanent subcommittee on investigations which has been authored. Senator cardin without objection. They will be included. Im going to have questions for you about your activities in what i think was a back handed way of supporting iran. And with that, i yield back. Im here to support israel today and help every way i can. Its important to get the right person in this position. Senator cardin we will hear from secretary lew. You may proceed as you wish. Mr. Lew chairman cardin and Ranking Member and members of the committee. I am honored to appear as the president s nominee to serve as u. S. Ambassador to the state of israel. And im proud of the trust and confidence that they have shown in me. I look forward working closely with you and other members of congress to advance u. S. And israeli interests. Joining me today are my wife ruth and children. They supported this mission when the focus was to expand the Abraham Accords. And they remain supportive as israel is in the midst of war. As always, knowing they are behind me is at the core of my ability to serve. I cannot remember a time when israel struggled for security was not at the forefront. I came of age that had religious beliefs. When i was 12 we followed reports of the sixday war with daily newspapers and broadcast news. In 1973, the year i came to washington as a young man i learned of the yom kippur war at synagogue and i worried deeply about the survival of the state of israel. The horrific and murderous terrorist attacks just days ago shattered another holy day and learning that an attack on israel at a Prayer Service was an experience i hope never to repeat. At this moment, there is no Greater Mission than to be asked to strengthen the ties between the United States and israel to work towards peace in the region that has known so much war and destruction. The savage attacks demands the condemnation of the world and President Biden has made clear that the United States stands with israel in its efforts to defend itself. I will do my utmost to end the horrific attacks by hamas and ensure that israel has what it needs to defend itself and spare no effort to help american citizens that are captive to return home safely and i will work to root out heinous crimes. I will work to prevent other stay states and none state actors and coordinate with International Communities to address the humanitarian crisis that hostages are being used as human shields by hamas. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, i want to be clear, iran is a threat to regional stability and to israels existence. If confirmed i will uphold President Bidens commitment to deny iran a Nuclear Weapon and warning to the region that anyone who is thinking of taking advantage of the Current Crisis dont. I will work to strengthen israel security. Israel is our closest partner in the region and its security is paramount. The president has been clear u. S. Commitment to israel is iron clad demonstrated in part by our 38 billion memorandum of understanding. In the midst of war, our longterm strategic objectives must remain clear. If confirmed i will work to advance comprehensive and lasting peace and twostate solution to the palestinianisraeli conflict and promote integration and normalization and cooperation with israel as a fully recognized partner. I look forward to deepening economic and commercial relationships enhancing cooperation and Economic Security such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, transportation, smart agricultural technologies and clean energy. And israels economy grows and diversifies we must enhance our close cooperation on foreign investment. If confirmed, i will continue to oppose all efforts to isolate and delegitimize israel internationally and promote the global fight against antisemitism. I will firmly reject the boycott and sanctions movement while respecting the rights of all americans to free speech. I will work to reenforce all efforts to combatanty semitism including the hamas attacks on october 7. More broadly, if confirmed, i will work to further strengthen our 75yearold partnership with israel and deepen bonds between our people. Finally, as someone who has dedicated much of my life to Public Service, i thank the talented and committed Foreign Service officers, Civil Servants and foreign nationals who are doing an extraordinary job at a time of violence and war representing the United States and washington and abroad. Just watching this morning, standing beside the president knowing that her family and the families of all our people that are over there have been shaken by the last 10 days. I have personal appreciation for their dedication, courage and their Service Deserves the if admiration and respect of the American People. Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, thank you for the opportunity to testify here today. And i look forward to your questions. And 1948, president truman did something that the state department did not recommend that he do. He did that because of his belief that israel shared the same values where we had no other country that shared those values and that relationship has grown over that period of time. As you pointed including the memorandum of understanding the development of iron dome and shared intelligence information and technology. I would like to get your view as to that relationship, why it is special, what you have done in your public life to help strengthen the ties between israel and the United States. Mr. Lew i think the relationship between the United States and israel is special because we share values and the United States understands without the state of israel, its not just people of israel, jews around the world are not safe. So the relationship between the United States and israel is at the core of who i am and what i believe is important for us having an ally in the region that we can count on. My career has not for the most part in foreign policy, it has been integrated into many of the roles i played as the direct tore of o. M. B. , chief of staff and treasury. I was the o. M. B. Director who helped design the first m. O. U. Of Security Assistance to israel. I was the deputy secretary of state to help israel to become a member of the oecd which is developed nations of the world that israel wanted at a time when it was being marginalized and being thrown out. I was the o. M. B. Director who helped fund Missile Defense and not without concerns of cost and some concerns about the scope of our commitments. I have not shied away from expressing my views when the position of the United States and position of israel require government officials to do so and i am happy to discuss those matters, but i believe my reputation as someone who stands with israel is beyond question. I think the government of israel has made that clear and things they have said ever since my nomination. Senator cardin immediate need for the United States is to help israel deal with this war providing the support it needs dealing with hostage relief, dealing with the potential escalation and preventing that from happening. That is the immediate concern. Looking beyond that, you mentioned the Abraham Accords and normalization, one of hamas objectives was to derail the discussions that are taking place in the middle east with the most visible being between United States, israel and saudi arabia. So tell me a little about your view as to how you keep these normalization discussions alive during a time of war. Mr. Chairman, it is going to be a challenge until this war ends for people here or there to focus on the day after but i deepbly believe have do keep our eye on the strategic and negotiations between israel and saudi arabia, if it was in the International Interests two weeks ago, it is in the interest of israel and saudi arabia when this war ends and we are a critical part of that conversation. I have had extensive dealings with many of the governments in the region. I would pledge my support for making that conversation that can get back on track. It was a mission that i thought i was going to start with. I dearly pray we get to that mission soon. Risch risch iran did pull the trigger and got the people to rise up against israel knowing exactly what the consequences would be and then attempting and successfully turn the world against israel for responding as they did. You got that call just right. I think that thats what happened. Like you, i pray when this is over, we can continue on and number of us are leading with saudi officials to urge that. My problem goes back to your performance previously. And to quote from the Washington Post opinion piece that says lew must explain why in 2015 that he will help iran under the nuclear deal with iran and secretly tried to do that and turn dlars 5. 7 billion into u. S. Currency. Im going to pursue that line. You recall sitting in that chair in july of 2015 and stating quote, will continue under the jcpoa iran will be continued to be denied access to commercial markets. Mr. Lew i remember that testimony well and we kept iran from becoming part of the u. S. Financial system and i am happy to discuss the implementation of the jcpoa. You and i may not agree on the policy. But what we did we implemented a policy that was transparent that i testified before this committee on in terms of what was being done. We negotiated with iran to have them roll back their Nuclear Program in exchange for which it was their money we had frozen. We facilitated that transaction. We did not welcome them back into the u. S. Financial system. Senator risch did you issue a specific license authorizing iranian assets to flow through the United States Financial System . Mr. Lew we did issue licenses. I do not recall whether those licenses were the vehicle that funds moved. The concern was we made an agreement to return money and returning that money was the bargain for our nuclear deal. Thats all we did. Senator risch are you telling us that you notified on february 24, 2016 you authorized that specific license to moscow . Mr. Lew general licenses are published. Specific licenses are not. Senator risch i want to quote one of the objectives when they said there was a gigantic break through which assured iran of global inclusion, that was in response to the license you should on february 24, 2016. Mr. Lew i cant speak to that. The government of iran believed we did not give them which is access to the my actions kept them from getting full access to the world Financial System. I know some of you are going to ask me questions what my team said. My team told banks we did not left the sanctions on terrorism or Human Rights Violations or lift on regional destabilization and iran thought it kept them from getting. We gave them that was agreed to in the jcpoa and nothing for. Senator risch i have to tell you that this is something we knew nothing about he at the time you should this license and we believe that was a direct contravention of what you told us in this committee in july of 2015 and im deeply disappointed with that. To me, this whole thing is about iran and Holding Hands with iran under the table doesnt work for me and im deeply disappointed that you issued that license and didnt tell us about it and deeply disappointed that you misled us in july when we had that meeting. My time is up. I yield unpersuaded. Senator cardin senator menendez. Mr. Menendez i want to go through a few things. Do you agree with me that iran is a threat to the state of israel . Mr. Lew yes, i do. And Nuclear Programs where their enrichment is beyond any commercial grade purpose if continued is a threat to the state of israel . Mr. Lew enrichment of uranium and why i supported the jcpoa because it created a bigger wall of time. Jcpoa has ended in terms and they enriched more. There are many efforts to delegitimize the state of israel particularly at the united nations. In 2016, the Obama Administration through my disappointment which i expressed at the time failed to veto a resolution that did from my perspective that, an attempt to delegitimize the state of israel at the united nations. If you were to be confirmed under these present circumstances and assuming that it was such a resolution, would you recommend the president veto similar resolutions that signal israel delegitimize actions for self defense pan mr. Lew the u. N. Needs to be fair and not condemn israel and ignore the actions of sprirt organizes like hamas, i did not believe its right for the u. N. To adopt resolutions that signaled israel out and i believe that the u. N. Needs to be more even handed. I cannot comment on hypothetical resolutions and i would note when that decision was made it was made by president obama after very much worst resolution had been substantially modified and that was the worst resolution doesnt make a bad resolution. Mr. Lew there is a dynamic at the u. N. , israel is constantly villified and made the central focus. With other countries in the world who have significant Human Rights Violations go untouched. And so you are not going to be at the u. N. But you are going to be part of a National Security team as the ambassador tore israel that has input in an administration and im trying to understand. Mr. Lew if i am confirmed to be ambassador to israel, i will have single focus on how i approach these questions that is different from the focus that you have in other roles. I will be an advocate for doing the things the United States should do to protect israel including at the u. N. What do you see your role if confirmed as it relates to the challenges of the Palestinian People . Hamas is a terrorist organization. No question about that. And israel must do what is necessary to wipe them off the face of the earth. Having said that, the Palestinian People in and of themselves are not hamas. What do you see as your role as the u. S. Ambassador as it relates to finding a Better Future for them . Mr. Lew i am keeping focused not just today but where we go after the conflict war ends. And think we have to be back in a place where questions are being asked of how do you have a sustainable peace and security for israeli and palestinian citizens. My heart goes out to innocent civilians whether it was gruesome atrocities or citizens where hamas is getting killed because of collateral damage. It has to end with israels security being guaranteed and very difficult moment to remember that we are going to get beyond this current state of affairs and hopefully coming out of this, there will be some more willingness and parties able to have conversations about building a Better Future. We need to worry about refugees and im hartened about some of the progressive read about humanitarian charters, on getting food and water to people. I think hamas is using palestinian citizens to make their cause public and hurting those people. Senator cardin senator rubio. Senator rubio i need to touch on this. You said in your testimony is on the record and acknowledged that in your testimony, both written and verbal in this committee in 2015, in july, you said there iran would not interacted. And there was a special license which is well documented to allow iran access to u. S. Financial institutions and specific ln to u. S. Dollars to convert about 5. 7 billion into iranian accounts. The report that is also on the record found that under your leadership at treasury instituted about 200 encouraged u. S. Banks to convert these funds. The two banks decided not to do so but encouraged two banks. Then treasury put on over 200 road shows across the world encouraging u. S. Banks to do business with iran and also telling members of the International Banking community not to downplay stating that opec send a warning letter or takes no action. One european commented that foreign institutional felt political pressure. And in fact, the report found that Treasury Department officials, officials proactively contacted foreign institutions to provide jcpoa Financial Relief and contacted a Financial Institution to make sure they understood iran sanctions relief and left the Financial Institution confused because they had no business with iran up until that. We sent you a letter asking about you all this and why this is a new term transaction and the United States will not work on behalf of iran to access u. S. Dollars elsewhere in the International System including them to gain. And asked you this in the letter. Senator rubio we wrote you back, a week after that we were disappointed that you ignored the request in our march 30 letter providing assurancees that the United States will not work on behalf of iran to access u. S. Dollars elsewhere in the International System, et cetera and you responded on june 7 of that year. I ask that it be entered into the record. Senator cardin without objection. Senator rubio department of treasury is not working on behalf of iran to enable u. S. Dollars nor are we assisting iran to gaining dollar. The administration has not been and not planning to grant iran to the u. S. Financial system. The way i would describe this is, you were not providing them access to the u. S. Financial and issued them a special license to help them gain access and asked two banks to convert the funds and chose not to do so. You put on road shows encouraging banks around the world to be part of this and telling them, dont worry about sanctions or penalties, 95 it is a warning let area and no and unless you dispute the report and reached out to a bank that says they dont do business. You deny or mislead that any of this is happening. These are the facts. Do you dispute any of these facts as outlined. I under that general licenses and specific licenses. This license was issued and did you did the road show and people in the state department and the report found this, too. Not a partisan report. This report was put together by the Oversight Committee saying we are concerned that this exceeds our power under the deal. How are we supposed to see all of that and confirm to this important post that you misled me and misled the congress with regards to all of this. Mr. Lew may have a moment to respond . Senator rubio you may. Mr. Lew i dont think the facts are the way you described them and it is important to distinctish between the Technical Details between the jcpoa and welcoming iran. We didnt and i took no action. I dont think your description of what u. S. And officials is the same of my memory of what i had and i had banks and governments coming to me we want you to do. We didnt do that. What we did, we said exactly what i said in response to the Ranking Member. We told them what sanctions were lifted and what were in place. And iran got the message that we were telling people not to do business with them. Thats why sanctioned for human rights in iran. We gave them knowing more than than what we promised in the jcpoa. But other members have been sanctioned by iran and proud to be among them. Senator rubio thats not my allegations of the facts i am reading of the report on Senate Subcommittee on investigations and i think this needs to be answered. Senator cardin senator kaine. Senator kaine i want to read reactions from israeli officials and others to the news of your nomination of the the current foreign minister cohen in Early September said welcome, you have been nominated to ambassador israel. We look forward to working with you and followup interview he said about you, he is a true friend of israel and we expect to work with him in the spread of our alliance. And we know the israeli ambassador to the United States when you were being rumored. He is a true statesman and passionate jew. I valued his friendship and defense of u. S. Israel alliance. Human rights activists said this, lew took families of prisoners of zion to make sure the jews would be released. And many owe their lives to them and others for the successful efforts to release them. Israeli official in 2015 recall without lews help, he would have never been accepted. These are comments that are powerful. There is a need for speed on acting in this nomination and we need to get it to the floor quickly and have a ambassador to israel and the Biden Administration is sending to us a supplemental aid for ukraine and aid to israel and border aid and assistance for states i hope the senate can show in a bipartisan manner that we would support this. That would send a powerful message to israel. The most controversial issue, i have been on the committee the whole time since i came in 2013 was the jcpoa. There are people that are not going to let you out of the penalty box. And they cant separate their feeling whether you are going to be a good ambassador. I know something you just mentioned, some members have been sanctioned but you have been sanctioned by iran. Tell the committee why iran sanctioned you. Mr. Lew i think it was irans hope they would get exactly what has been described here they would be welcomed into the world of nations and profoundly disappointed when that didnt happen. And they did not think that i kept the bargain. One thing i will say is, a deal is a deal. If you want sanctions to work to get sovereign powers to change their policy which iran did, you have to keep your side of the bargain. I didnt think we had to do any more than that. Senator kaine the sanctions pertaining to Irans Nuclear program but never to lift any other sanctions, violation of other u. N. Resolutions. We lifted none of those sanctions and you reminded banks and institutions that those sanctions were still in play and if mr. Lew if nuclear sanction, those had been lifted. Senator kaine you should be proud of being sanctioned by iran. Holding hands with them under the table, if that was the case, you wouldnt be on the list of those sanctioned by the nation of iran. Ambassador will be the envoy to address the humanitarian crisis in gaza. And hamas started this horrible war against and all palestinians are not hamas and a broader humanitarian challenge will not serve israels interest, will not serve the regional interest. We need to do all we can to take the fight to the prerp traitor. We have painful lessons we learned about that. And took the fight to the perpetrator after 9 11. A we lost credibility. We lost support nationally and unleashed a set of consequences that shouldnt have been unleashed. So we have our own painful experience of being attacked and allowing the response and suffering as a result. I am hoping you will work with envoy on this important mission. Mr. Lew i dont think i could have found the words what the president has said on multiple occasions over the last week. Israel has a right and responsibility to defend itself and what makes our relationship with israel is so special we share a common belief of democracy and rule of law and that includes the rule of war. And this is not the time for us to be lecturing israel on what they have to do to establish the security that they have the responsibility to provide. And i think they know they have to do it in a way that is consistent with minimizing the impact on innocent civilians. As we learned in fallujah and mosul and ray ramadi, it is very hard not to be collateral damage. And i dont think that is what the president said. They have to defend themselves. Senator cardin senator romney. Senator romney we were in israel over the weekend and had a chance to meet with former leadership and leadership and military leaders and families of hostages. I know your confirmation can be done by one party alone and likely to be confirmed. That being said, there are a few things i would like to pass along. Respected by the israeli leadership and working in the interest of the United States and someone we respect enormously. Meeting with the families of hostages, their stories are heartbreaking. The outrage, the brutality and inhumidity of hamas and took children and others and grabbed them and took them across the border is hard to comprehend and we need to do everything we can to secure the release of those hostages. I note under one of the leading generals of the Israeli Defense forces said something very powerful. Israel and jews dont do vengeance. We are not going to target palestinians and kill a lot of palestinians to make up for all the jews that were killed. We do everything in our power to avoid civilian casualties but they are being used as human shields and many cases there will be deaths, but they will be unfortunate and not on the part of israel to carry out vengeance. There is a responsibility and Israeli Government has this responsibility as well to secure the safety and life of their citizens and in this case hamas made it clear as long as they exist, Israeli Citizens will be at risk and lives will be sacrificed and unacceptable for hamas to exist certainly in proximity that they have enjoyed from the gaza strip. I would note also in discussion of what comes next, what is going to come after, lets assume the Israeli Military is successful in rooting out hamas, what happens after that . There wasnt a clear response to that. The Israeli Government and military are focused how they are going to be successful in rooting out hamas. What comes next is something which will be a great priority for United States ambassador there. Im going to note that i was very troubled by the report the permanent subcommittee on investigations that was carried under the direction of senator portman. I concur in the questions being raised by senator rubio. That is troubling to me. I wonder how the white house could have brought forward a nomination given that report and given the clear indication that republican members at least and hopefully Democrat Members as well would be troubled and moved by the results of that report from the subcommittee on investigations. Finally, a question are and that relates to a another issue. And release them as part of the prisoner exchange. That has been put on hold. I guess i question and you have experience, the idea that dollars are going to be used for humanitarian purposes. I heard the administration say we are going to get your 6 billion back but has to be used. I know enough about money that funds are fungible and say we are going to give you 6 billion but use it for food. Iran can say thats what we use it for and we freed up 6 billion for food and hospitals and now we can use it for Nuclear Weapons and provide money to hezbollah or hamas. If only its for a humanitarian purpose, and disguising the fact that we are providing funds to a state sponsor of terror. It is misleading the American People and to the world. Am i misreading that . Mr. Lew i agree with the difference between a country and vengeance and anger and fury and vengeance. If we live in a country that a country has been brutalized, controlling your fury is beyond imagination. And try their best to do it to defend the country not for vengeance. On the question you didnt ask the question but the report on the special committee, i have remained close to senator portman and i spoke to him last night. I would invite those who questions that he thinks i am someone i keep my word, talk to senator portman. On the question of fungibility of money, money is fungible. But dealing with iran, you are not dealing with a rational player. You are dealing with a maligned eve i will government. So when iran gets access to food and medicine for its people, thats food and medicine they wouldnt have had. When i supported the jcpoa, what i said, our Intelligence Report suggests that the vast majority of that money would be used for the neglected purpose of humanitarian expenses and to the expense there is leakage it wont change. Supporting terrorist organizations like hamas and hezbollah, that is not very expensive. They are doing it any way. I tried as i could and consent administrations tried as hard as they could, they were still doing maligned activities. Not an economic question but a question of who we are dealing with. We are not dealing with guns or butter. Guns come first. Senator coons thank you for your willingness to take on this challenging and Critical Service on behalf of this nation in this difficult moment like every member of this committee. I condemn the invasion and attacks against israel, the slaughter of innocent people and taking of hostages and when you are confirmed by the senate, you will take on representing our nation in a fraught moment with a critical ally. Im grateful that our president chose to go in person and i have been receiving messages about what a difference it makes to them when our National Leaders show up and we have to sustain that engagement through a Senate Confirmed ambassador. Its my hope we will confirm ambassadors to other country in the region. Egypt, lebanon and we will continue expediting these confirmations and just confirmed ambassadors to oman and kuwait. All of us on this committee know there is a huge difference between ambassador in the United States and although there are many career sphorn service officers, we need an ambassador i hope this committee would take it seriously. How would you work to limit what i think was the goal of hamas attacks in addition to terrorizing the population to prevent any recognition between israel and saudi arabia and expansion of the abraham accord. Would you would you limit these attacks from developing into a wider regional conflict and how would i said this before, ill say it again. We have outstanding Public Servants including our acting ambassador, i support having confirms am bass do one does not contradict the other. I also agree with comments, just as an observer from outside, this attack was timed to undermine the normalization process and make it harder. The way you respond to that is by coming right back as soon as you can. This is not a moment where people can concentrate on what shape of the discussion the day after is. But my view is the way you prevent terrorist organization by winning is you dont get terrorized you dont run away you stick to whats in your National Interest and work hard at it. It was always going to be a challenging negotiation to get a normalization agreement. I think it will clearly now be more challenging because the Public Opinion in many places will be at such a different level after this war. And a role we can play at the United States and weve often played is to bring people together to keep the conversation going. I hope, and this may just be im an eternal optimist, because otherwise you give in to the worse of man, i think that coming out of this, therell be an understand agatha some of these issues have to be dealt with. And the shape of how theyre dealt with wont be the same as it was before the conflict. But it will have to be done in way that gives israel the ability to defend itself, to protect its people from future attacks like this, and we have to do it with our eyes wide open about the fact that we do have malign forces like iran that want to destroy israel. So it isnt easy but i think saudi arabia and israel were in a place where they had made a decision that this was something very much worth pursuing and i hope when this is over we can help get that conversation going again. And i hope members of this committee who are determined to help move that forward will also in a bipartisan way contribute to it. Before my time ends, i just my senior senator, senator carper, was the Ranking Member on the permanent subcommittee for informations. For those who are pressing you and troubled by that report, he refused to sign it. He found that its conclusions in his estimation were a partisan effort at attacking the previous administrations iran policy rather than a specific and credible conclusion about you and your conduct. Ill let senator carpers Public Statement speak for itself but for folks wrestling with that in any way, i encourage them to talk to my colleague, senator carper who i think is as even handed, balanced as has served in the modern era. I dont know if theres anything you want to say in response to that. I appreciate your bringing to the attention of the committee. Its a point that senator carper has made to me as well. Thank you for your willingness to take on this important service. Its my hope well proceed quickly with your confirmation. Thank you, mr. Secretary. Senator ricketts. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Lew, for being here. The as toties hamas committed were one of the darkest days in israels history. We saw reports of babies and toddlers beheaded. Women were women were rape and paraded bloody through the streets. Weve seen kidnappings including of children. And this isnt something that is confined just to israelis. I know theres not only 1,400 israelis that have been killed, but 300 americans that have been killed. We are concerned about the hostages that include not only israeli bus americans as well. Hamas continues to block the evacuation routes in gaza so they can use palestinians, children and civilians, in gaza, as human shields. They forced innocents into harms way for twisted propaganda. Hamas represents the worst of humanity. I believe the u. S. Must stand shouldertoshould we are the state of israel. We need to stand with them in their time as they have declared war on hamas to fight this war. It is in that context that when i hear for calls of cease fire or deescalation, thats foolishness. That is a war israel needs to prosecute. And we need to give israel the weapons they need to be able to do it. We need to give them intercept grors the iron dome, additional batteries to protect innocent israelis from these rocket attacks. Now obviously this was intelligence failure to detect the attack. Time will come to be able to dig into what happened there. And address it. Even worse the Biden Administrations failed policy on iran has enabled hamas to make these attacks in the first place. Iran see the largest state sponsor of terrorism. Hamas would not be able to do this without irans support. The Biden Administration has failed to enforce the iranian oil sanctions. We heard that from the Ranking Member earlier. Thats provide the regime tens of billions of dloofers funding that is subsequently to be used for funding terrorists, especially their proxy hark mas, to attack israel. According to a wall street journal report, while the irgc was courting attack with hamas to kill israeli, the Biden Administration was negotiating a secret deal to free up 6 billion of money for iran. And that certainly goes, if that report is true, how iran holds nothing but contempt for the yates and will deal behind our back even while trying to negotiate. These are mind boggling decisions. Its a continuation of the disastrous Obama Administration iran policy that you, mr. Lew, helped orchestrate. You were one of the implementers of the flawed iran nuclear deal. Iran wants to annihilate israel. Wants to wipe them off the face of the earth. The deal would have put iran on a path to be able to continue to enrich uranium for Nuclear Weapons. Theres a certain irony that one of those sunsets, the u. S. Prohibition against iran missile and drone activity which iran was already violating, is set to expire today. The deal provides iran with billions of dplars sanctions relief that you oversaw, relief and subsidized support for hamas to enable them to carry out like the ones we saw 11 days ago. This deal was so bad that Prime Minister netanyahu came before congress to speak out against it. You criticized that. Were going to get to that in a second. The barbaric events of october 7 are a referendum on the disastrous iran policy, starting with the Obama Administration and continued under this Biden Administration. The Biden Administrations need to complete a complete overhaul in the way we see iran and how we deal with it. My fear, mr. Lew, is you are more simply of the same. You represent a continuation of that policy. So i have some questions. These are yes or no questions. I want to clarify some of the facts here. On what you believe. Do you believe the Biden Administration should continue to restock jcpoa talks . Mr. Lew i dont think this is the moment for us to be negotiating with iran. I believe deeply that an agreement to not have Nuclear Weapons would be a good thing but this is not the moment. Mr. Lew in 2017, an event at Columbia University did you say, quote, the personal dynamic between the president and Prime Minister was not as good as one might have hoped and it was in both directions . I mean i saw as much provocation coming from the Prime Minister, i saw more provocation coming in than going out, is that an accurate quote . Mr. Lew i dont remember the exact words. It was something i said to a group of students. Its a balanced statement, where even what you read was criticizing my own president as well. I thought there was blame to go around. So when Prime Minister netanyahu came here in his 2015 speech did you criticize that it went beyond the pale of what you can just ignore and it was a huge mistake for israel. Mr. Lew i did think it was a mistake to have something that would create partisan division over u. S. Support for israel which for 75 years has been bipartisan. Do you believe israel should continue to recognize jerusalem as the capital of jerusalem. Mr. Lew it is recognized as capital, theres no change to that. Thats the policy of the United States. So we should keep our embassy there . Mr. Lew we need to build an embassy there. We have a presence there. But it takes a while to build an embassy. Thank you. If i can make one point. You said this administration was negotiating to give iran its money back. What this administration was doing was negotiating to bring americans home that were kept captive in iran. They made judgment that release mungs being held pursuant to poll sthoifs Prior Administration could be moved in a way that iran could use them as the Prior Administration had agreed to. Thats very different from saying were going to negotiate to give iran money. Do you believe it was appropriate then to release these funds to get our