Jack Lew, nominated to be the next American ambassador to Israel (Photo by Paul Morigi, Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
CAMERA’s Israel office this week prompted correction at CNBC after the news outlet bizarrely claimed that the Orthodox Judaism of Jack Lew, whom President Joe Biden nominated as the next American ambassador to Israel, should ease his Senate confirmation. In her Sept. 5 article “Biden nominates Jack Lew to be US Ambassador to Israel,” Emma Kinery wrote: “Lew’s experience, and his Orthodox Judaism, should ease the Senate confirmation process.”
Hey, @CNBC. Can you please explain how this works? How exactly will Jack Lew’s Orthodox Judaism ease the Senate confirmation process? We look forward to a transparent explanation of this opaque commentary @EmmaKinery https://t.co/KtefM1tYIM pic.twitter.com/zsJqowAUV7
— Tamar Sternthal (@TamarSternthal) September 6, 2023
CAMERA contacted CNBC, requesting an explanation or clarification regarding the opaque and simply not understandable political commentary.
In response, editors commendably amended the article on Sept. 11, removing the unfounded assertion. In place of the problematic assertion, the updated article now includes the following relevant background:
A veteran of two presidential administrations, Lew has spoken about the challenge of balancing his observance of Orthodox Judaism with incredibly demanding White House jobs.
He has also played key role in devising sanctions that were part of the Iran nuclear deal during the Obama administration, the signature Middle East policy of Obama’s presidency. Lew was also tapped to explain White House Iran policy to the Jewish community, where he was frequently met with opposition.
Moreover, editors commendably appended an Editor’s note to the bottom of the article alerting readers to the change: “This story has been updated to include additional background on Lew’s role in Middle East policy.”