Lew said he would work to strengthen the U.S.-Israeli partnership and pledged he would “work to address humanitarian assistance to citizens of Gaza who have been victimized by Hamas “if confirmed as ambassador to Israel.

“I will work to strengthen Israel’s security…Its security is paramount…The U.S. has been clear its commitment to Israel is iron-clad,” Lew said, adding, “I will work to establish lasting peace through negotiation on a two-state process.”

Ranking Republican committee member Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, said he has reservations about Lew’s nomination.

“We’re here today to support Israel by filling the position of ambassador to Israel,” Risch said. “I agree with you, we need this thing filled. The problem I have is that it needs to be filled by the right person. I have some issues in that regard.”

Risch questioned Lew’s activities during the Obama administration in 2015 on the Iranian nuclear deal that was designed to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons development in exchange for loosening U.S. sanctions.

Risch described Lew’s activities as “a backhanded way of supporting Iran.”

He alleged that the Biden administration is allowing Iran to evade sanctions and sell billions of dollars woth of oil. He said it’s time for a wholesale re-evaluation of U.S. Palestinian policy.

Foreign Relations Committee Chair Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said during his opening statement that the United States needs to confirm an ambassador to Jersualem “given the dangerous state of emergency that Israel faces” and added “now is not the time to play political games.”

“Hamas has viciously killed hostages and are still holding others, including U.S. citizens. We need an ambassador who at this critical and delicate time can speak with authority,” he said.

At that point a spectator shouted “Our families are dying in Gaza and we need a cease-fire now!” It was the first of three such interruptions in the opening minutes of the hearing.

Two other people rose one at a time as the hearing continued and shouting “Stop the genocide in Gaza!” and “We need a ceasefire now! Stop sending aide to Israel! Stop the Israeli genocide!”

Cardin said he would not tolerate disruptions to the hearing as he told Lew that he is “committed to getting you in place as soon as possible.”

Lew said the “horrific and murderous terrorist attacks just days ago” underscores that “at this moment there is no greater mission than to strengthen the ties between the U.S. and Israel.”

The hearing comes as Democrats were clamoring to fill the position as the previous ambassador, Tom Nides, stepped down from the role over the summer after President Joe Biden publicly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s plan to overhaul the country’s judicial system, which sparked weeks of massive protests throughout Israel.

In early September, Biden tapped Lew, 68, to fill the role. A month later, the militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza, plunging the region into violence.

Biden is seeking to expedite Lew’s confirmation as the conflict threatens to intensify and spill into southern Lebanon.

A chorus of Senate Republicans have signaled their intention to oppose Lew’s nomination.

Earlier this week, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., criticized Lew as an “Iran sympathizer” after he defended the 2015 nuclear deal in which Iran agreed to scale down its nuclear capabilities in exchange for the easing of U.S. sanctions. President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, leaving Iran free to enrich uranium with no international monitors.

At the time, hardline conservatives in the United States and Israel opposed any efforts by Washington to soothe relations with Tehran’s authoritarian leadership.

Cotton, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Lew “has no business being our ambassador. It’s bad for the United States. It’s bad for Israel to have an Iran sympathizer as our ambassador to that country. He helped Iran evade American sanctions, and he lied to Congress about it,” Cotton said, referring to Lew’s testimony before the Foreign Relations Committee in 2015.

Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., echoed those sentiments, saying a vote for Lew would equate to “a slap in the face to Israel.”

Others on the committee, including Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla, and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., have also voiced concerns.

Cotton acknowledged the increasing urgency for the United States to demonstrate support for Israel, but said Lew is the wrong man for the job.

“I know Democrats are saying that we need to confirm Jack Lew quickly to show our support for Israel. I would say it’s the exact opposite. We need to defeat Jack Lew’s nomination to show that we have a new approach to Iran,” he said.

At the time of Lew’s nomination on Sept. 5, tensions were elevated between the United States and Israel due to hardline policies that emerged after Netanyahu’s latest rise to power in December, which triggered growing instability throughout the region as Israel was seeking to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia after establishing diplomacy with the United Arab Emirates two years ago.

Nides expressed confidence that Lew would be confirmed.

“He cares deeply about Israel,” Nides told the Washington Post. “He knows the policy. He speaks for the president … It’s not even a question.”

Lew is an Orthodox Jew with strong ties to the U.S. Jewish community and was serving as chairman of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, co-president of the board of the National Library of Israel USA and the Council on Foreign Relations when he got the call from Biden.

Lew is also managing partner at Lindsay Goldberg and holds down a part-time role as a visiting professor at Columbia University.

He has previously supported a two-state peace solution for the region, which envisions the creation of two separate and independent states, one for Israelis and one for Palestinians, living side by side in peace and security.