The Biden administration’s nominee to be the next ambassador to Israel is pledging full American support and funding for an anti-Semitic United Nations organization known to cooperate with Hamas.
Jack Lew, the former Treasury Department secretary who is nominated as U.S. ambassador to Israel, informed Congress in written communication that if confirmed to the post, he will not eliminate taxpayer funding for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), an aid organization known to use anti-Semitic materials in its schools and preach Israel’s destruction.
U.S. funding to UNRWA, which topped $730 million under the Biden administration, has long been a flashpoint among Republicans in Congress, and was frozen under the Trump administration due to the organization’s promotion of Jew hatred. UNRWA is known to employ teachers who call for Jews to be murdered and glorify Hamas terrorists, including its leaders, according to watchdog groups. The Iranian-backed terror group that recently slaughtered nearly 1,500 Israelis is also reported to store weapons and other munitions at UNRWA facilities.
"I believe eliminating funding for UNRWA would be harmful for the innocent people that live in Gaza, Israel and the broader region as well as U.S. security interests," Lew said in written testimony provided to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee following his confirmation hearing last week.
Lew’s support for UNRWA, disclosed in communications with Sen. Bill Hagerty (R., Tenn.) and reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon, is likely to galvanize Republican opposition to his nomination, which was already heading towards a party-line vote due to Lew’s role in easing sanctions on Iran during his time in the Obama administration. With UNRWA identified as one of Hamas’s enablers, Lew’s desire to pump money into the organization is raising red flags with Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which voted along party lines on Wednesday to advance the nominee to a full Senate vote.
"It’s appalling that Lew not only is unwilling to condemn UNRWA’s complicity in teaching the hatred of Jews to Palestinians, but also makes clear that he has no qualms with American taxpayer dollars funding and spreading this anti-Semitism in Palestinian schools," Hagerty told the Free Beacon.
Lew maintains in his written answers that cutting off UNRWA would bolster Hamas, but he does not mention evidence that the U.N. organization works alongside the terror group in order to maintain its influence in the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian territories.
"If the United States abandons UNRWA, it will create a vacuum that Hamas or other malign actors would fill," Lew wrote. "This would leave the region less secure threatening the security of both Israel and the United States."
Asked about UNRWA’s reliance on anti-Semitic educational materials—a problem that has plagued the group for many years across multiple U.S. administrations—Lew said he would rely on the group to root out bias on its own.
"When concepts contrary to U.N. principles are identified, UNRWA provides instructions and supplementary materials to address the issue with its staff," Lew said. "I understand the United States also funds peace and tolerance educational curriculum in UNRWA schools, programs that would not exist absent U.S. assistance."
Lew’s remarks are not likely to assuage Republican concerns about UNRWA, which was reported earlier this year to "regularly call to murder Jews and create teaching materials that glorify terrorism, encourage martyrdom, demonize Israelis, and incite anti-Semitism."
Lew also defended the Biden administration’s decision upon taking office to open up a Palestinian Affairs Consulate in Jerusalem, a move that critics said undermines the United States' historic decision during the Trump administration to recognize the city as Israel’s undivided capital.
Lew confirmed "the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," but added that "Jerusalem itself is a final status issue to be resolved through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians."
"Reopening the Consulate General in Jerusalem," he added, "would not change U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital."
Lawmakers like Hagerty disagree.
"I was also very deeply disappointed that Lew would not make clear when given the opportunity that the Government of Israel would have to affirmatively consent—as required under international law—before the United States can reopen the U.S. consulate for the Palestinians in Israel’s eternal capital of Jerusalem," Hagerty said.