The US Senate on Wednesday confirmed Thomas Nides by voice vote to be the next ambassador to Israel.

Nides, a secular Jew from Duluth, Minnesota, and former deputy secretary of state for management and resources under Hillary Clinton, expressed his support for US funding of Israel’s Iron Dome defensive missile system during his Senate confirmation hearing.

“This is a defensive mechanism. It is to stop rockets from raining in on Israel. We are supportive of the replenishment and it is in our national security interest,” Nides said at the hearing.

Nides has also pledged to support and advance the progress made in the Trump-brokered Abraham Accords, and to oppose anti-Semitic and anti-Israel BDS movement.

On Israel’s existential threat from Iran, Nides said that President Biden has made it clear that he will not allow the Islamic Republic to become a nuclear poerr under his watch, and that “upholding Israel’s security serves America’s national security interests and ensures that we will always have a strong, reliable and secure partner.”

AIPAC, the largest pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, congratulated Nides following his confirmation, saying in a statement that they “wish him great success in this critical position.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)