Dems want Israel envoy confirmed ‘instantaneously’ after attack

Senate Democrats are pushing aggressively for quick confirmation of Jack Lew as ambassador to Israel after the attack by Hamas on Saturday.

Lew was nominated in early September. But the attack, widely condemned by both parties and across the ideological spectrum, will kick the effort into high gear. It will jump start a broader debate over aid to Israel in an already chaotic fall.

Senate Foreign Relations Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said he hopes fellow senators “will join me in promptly confirming” Lew. And Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democratic member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said “we should do this instantaneously and we also need to confirm a chief of Naval Operations.”