Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Nides advances to final stage of confirmation for US ambassador to Israel

Thomas Nides cleared the second-to-last hurdle before being official.

Thomas Nides. Credit: U.S. Department of State.
Thomas Nides. Credit: U.S. Department of State.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s pick for the role of U.S. ambassador to Israel, Thomas Nides, this week cleared the second-to-last hurdle before official confirmation.

Nides, who was officially nominated in July, was reported favorably from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which conducted hearings on his nomination on Sept. 22.

He has now been scheduled for a final confirmation vote by the full Senate.

Nides, 60, has held prominent roles in the private and public sphere, including serving as Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources between 2010-13.

On the same day that the committee approved Nides’ nomination, it failed to move forward on Biden’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs, current National Security Council adviser Barbara Leaf.

Leaf’s nomination was put on hold by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), according to Politico.

The incident occurred as America continues its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The suspect, who was 17 at the time of the offense, is due in court on May 20.
In a letter to the U.S. State Department, the Democratic legislators pressed the Trump admin to revoke its condemnation of the flotilla and rescind calls for port restrictions from allies.
Police told JNS that an officer was injured as a result of protesters attempting to remove barriers and that no arrests were made.
The latest version blames Iran entirely and invokes a U.N. provision that could allow for the use of force.
Washington is “fighting this war side-by-side with a country, whose potential nuclear weapons program the U.S. government officially refuses to acknowledge,” the lawmakers wrote to the U.S. secretary of state.