Jacob Joseph Lew (born August 29, 1955) is an American attorney and diplomat who had served as the United States ambassador to Israel.

He began his legal career as a legislative assistant to Representative Joe Moakley, and as a senior policy adviser to former House Speaker Tip O'Neill.

During the Obama administration, Lew served as the first deputy secretary of state for management and resources from 2009 to 2010, before returning to his former post of OMB Director from 2010 to 2012.

[3] On September 5, 2023, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Lew to serve as United States ambassador to Israel.

[19] Lew was responsible for policy development and the drafting of the national service initiative (AmeriCorps) and health care reform legislation.

[28] In 2004, President George W. Bush appointed Lew as a member of the board of directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a position he held until 2008.

[29] In June 2006, Lew was named chief operating officer of Citigroup's Alternative Investments unit, a proprietary trading group.

[34] He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Brookings Institution Hamilton Project Advisory Board, and the National Academy of Social Insurance.

[39] On July 13, 2010, the White House announced that Lew had been chosen to replace Peter Orszag as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), subject to Senate confirmation.

[44] In an op-ed in the Huffington Post, Lew cited top Administration priorities to achieve deficit reduction; including: $400 billion in savings from non-security discretionary spending freezes, $78 billion in cuts to the Department of Defense, returning to the Clinton-era tax rates for the top 2% of income earners, and lowering the corporate tax from 35% to 25%.

[45] On January 9, 2012, President Obama announced that Lew would replace William M. Daley as White House Chief of Staff.

[51][52] During his tenure as chief of staff, Lew was seen as a supporter and top negotiator for a "grand bargain" deal between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, to avoid "fiscal cliff" sequester cuts and tax increases.

[62] In December 2013, Lew said that the government might run out of cash to pay the country's bills by late February or early March 2014.

"The creditworthiness of the United States is an essential underpinning of our strength as a nation; it is not a bargaining chip to be used for partisan political ends," Mr. Lew said in the letter.

"[63] In May 2014, Lew received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Georgetown University, and spoke at the first commencement ceremony of the McCourt School of Public Policy.

Lew's confirmation coincided with Congress responding to the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.

Although Biden had nominated Lew before the war began, the urgency surrounding his confirmation heightened as hostilities between Israel and Gaza intensified.

While Republicans recognized the necessity of a Senate-confirmed ambassador, they opposed Lew, expressing concerns about his role in the multinational nuclear pact with Iran during the Obama years.

[73] In January 2024, Lew advocated the US State Department to approve Boeing manufactured GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb sales to Israel, asserting that the Israeli air force would minimize civilian death.

[75] As Chief of Staff, Lew commuted to Washington from the couple's home in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx, New York City.

"[78] A 2011 press release from the Religion News Service noted that Lew also "has extensive connections in the American Jewish community," and that he might be able to help President Obama "build a more friendly rapport" with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.