Ex-Treasury secretary Lew top candidate for US envoy to Israel -Axios

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is the leading candidate to be the new U.S. ambassador to Israel and could be nominated in the coming weeks, the Axios media organization reported on Sunday, citing three people familiar with the matter.

Axios said there was a sense of urgency about U.S. President Joe Biden's choice for the post because the White House was pushing for a diplomatic mega-deal with Saudi Arabia that could include a normalization agreement between the Saudis and Israel.

Whoever succeeds former Ambassador Tom Nides will face a complicated political situation, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushes through a judicial overhaul opposed by many Israelis and the Biden administration, it said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden intended to nominate Lew, who has held several top U.S. government jobs including White House chief of staff and director of the Office of Management and Budget.