President Joe Biden’s recent nomination of Jack Lew, the former Treasury secretary, as the next U.S. ambassador to Israel, pleased major Jewish American groups and Israeli officials. But at least one prominent Jewish women group, with close ties to the administration, said that while Lew is “highly qualified,” Biden should have more seriously considered a woman for the job.
Sheila Katz, head of the National Council of Jewish Women, said she was “dismayed” by the inattention to women “despite women representing more than half of the population and the overwhelming majority of professionals working in the Jewish community.”
At least two prominent women were mentioned as possible candidates to hold the high-profile post: U.S. Rep Kathy Manning, a two-term Democrat from North Carolina, who in 2009 became the first woman to chair the Jewish Federations of North America; and Michèle Taylor, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. But recent reports indicated that Lew was “the only one being vetted for the job” from a list of male candidates.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry about whether any women were considered or vetted for the job.
Biden made diversity a priority during his 2020 campaign and first-term appointments. He picked a Black woman, Kamala Harris, for his running mate, and in 2022 nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman Supreme Court justice. Women make up 60% of the White House staff and a similar proportion of the president’s political appointees, according to a 2021 report.
A risk-averse approach to Israel
Evelyn Farkas, a former Pentagon official in the Obama administration, said that Biden deserved a pass for considering Lew “given the sensitivity and the strategic significance of the U.S.-Israel relationship” and his record on appointing women to senior positions. Farkas, currently the executive director of McCain Institute at Arizona State University, is a founding board member of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security. Established in 2019 by a group of female foreign policy and national security officials who served in the Obama and Clinton administrations, it lobbies for the appointment of women to senior government positions.
U.S. experts on Israel pointed to Biden’s overall risk-averse approach on Israel despite the administration’s willingness to speak out against the current Israeli government’s judicial overhaul and remarks made by far-right cabinet members. Women also remain underrepresented in Israel’s government, largely due to the lack of women in the Haredi parties, major players in Israel’s parliamentary system.
Dov Zakheim, former undersecretary of defense in the administration of George W. Bush, who endorsed Biden for president, said it’s possible Biden didn’t want to pick a woman because she would not be welcome by every part of the Israeli government. Zakheim said appointing Lew sends “an important signal” to Israel that the administration values the relationship.
Senate path to confirmation
Stephanie Hallett, the female deputy chief of mission under former Ambassador Tom Nides, currently serves as chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem until a nominee is confirmed.
Democrats hold a razor-thin majority in the Senate, assuring Lew’s confirmation. But rules allow a single senator to block a nominee at the committee level or throw up obstacles on the Senate floor. Republicans can attempt to delay the process for months to stoke disagreements over Biden’s Israel policy. In July, a group of GOP members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee threatened to derail the confirmation of administration nominees to protest recent changes on Israeli settlement policy.
“I like to believe that both sides of the political spectrum would agree with the proposition that the U.S. is best served by having an experienced, qualified and highly respected individual in place” as ambassador, said Jason Isaacson, the American Jewish Committee’s chief policy and political affairs officer in Washington, D.C.
The office of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire and advocate for women in international relations, didn’t reply to requests for comment.
Katz said that despite her disappointment in the nominating process, her group fully supports Lew’s nomination. She expressed hope that he will “include women and our concerns as an essential part of his work.”
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