Chuck Hagel comes under fire for views on Israel

With reports circulating that President Obama may nominate former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., as his next Defense Secretary, pro-Israel groups are pre-emptively attacking the former senator's views on Israel and the Middle East. Hagel and his allies are starting to push back against the mostly right-wing criticism, even as it grows louder.

The conservative Emergency Committee for Israel announced today it's airing an ad attacking Hagel for his record on Iran. It points out that Hagel voted against designating Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization and voted against Iran sanctions. The ad is airing Thursday and Friday in the Washington, D.C. area.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports, several pro-Israel groups are reaching out to members of Congress to highlight his record on Middle East issues, in an apparent effort to discourage Mr. Obama from nominating him.

"He has a checkered past on Israel," Abraham H. Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy organization, told the Times. "At the least, it's disturbing; at worst, it's troubling."

Josh Block, the chief executive of the Israel Project, a pro-Israel educational group, told the Times that Hagel's record "is well outside the mainstream of both Democratic and Republican positions on such issues."

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One unnamed Republican Senate aide went so far as to tell the conservative magazine the Weekly Standard that Hagel is an "anti-Semite." The aide said the basis for that charge was Hagel's remarks in a 2006 interview in which he said, "The Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here." The aide told the Weekly Standard, "Hagel has made clear he believes in the existence of a nefarious Jewish lobby that secretly controls U.S. foreign policy. This is the worst kind of anti-Semitism there is."

The criticism turned more mainstream this week when the Washington Post editorial board said Hagel's positions on Iran and Defense spending cuts "place him near the fringe of the Senate that would be asked to confirm him."

Hagel and his supporters stress that he is a firm ally of Israel and that his positions have been misrepresented. Daniel Kurtzer, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel under President George W. Bush, said the criticism is "terribly misguided."

"I found him in all the three years I served, including as ambassador to Israel, to be a supporter of Israel and a man also ready to discuss very frankly with the Israelis the concerns we had about certain Israeli policies," he said.

Hagel's office has put out a fact sheet to clarify Hagel's record on issues such as his opposition to labeling the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. The "fact sheet" notes the nonbinding agreement was opposed by 21 other senators because it would have had minimal practical impact but could have been seen as a "backdoor method of gaining congressional validation for military action." It points out that Hagel in his book "America: Our Next Chapter" wrote that Iran is a "state sponsor of terrorism" that "provides material support to Hezbollah and Hamas."

Hagel's office points out that while the former senator opposes unilateral sanctions, he has supported numerous sanctions on Iran.

[tl29szzz920]

TO Israel: Blow it out your nose. You have no business telling us who we need to put in an administrative position. That's the business of Americans and not the Israeli Administration. Since when does the US post opinion ads in the Israeli newspapers telling your politicians what they are doing is wrong. BUG OUT.

The Day we start to listen to you will be the same day you start permanently dismantling your settlements, work with the Palestinians on a real peace agreements which involves joint sharing of Jerusalem, mutual peace and security accords and joint recognition of Israel and the new Palestinian states.

[cattiej]

Looks like Hagel is a loose cannon...maybe he will start World War III all by himself...Obama is really stupid to even think of nominating this guy.

[pbaird2]

Charging the Israel lobby of being overly forceful and influential on Capitol Hill is not anti-semitism; it is the same charge one would make against the NRA lobby. The world has given Israel "carte blanche" based upon mass feelings of guilt for the atrocities of the past; ever nation must expect a level playing field with regard to treatment by the US. Countries who abide terrorism (e.g.IRAN) should expect to be shunned until they improve. Disapproval of Israel politics is not the same as disapproval of the people.

[al-KarimAmarsi]

A bit confused here. What did Hagel say that is so offensive in regards to the power of the Jewish lobby in America? Does one get penalized for merely stating facts of the American reality today?

[tvwatcher5345]

if the chicken soup hawks/neocons are against hagel, i am for him, these weasel neocons should join the military and have their kids sign up if they are so willing to send other kids to war, although they may be useless in the military, look at how isreal got their butts kicked when they went into southern lebanon in 2006

[marychgo]

When can we expect you to CORRECT your headline, CBS? Hagel is NOT "under fire for (his) views on Israel"; he's "under fire" for his views on certain U.S. lobbying groups that claim to support Israel....

[boatdocster]

The real problem in this article is the GOP and Israelis know Hagel is objective and independent; he will put our country first, in front of the GOP and in front of Israel. Both of those groups hate anything that won't wear a leash and collar...

I mean, after all - the job is "Secretary of Defense of the USA" - not SEC DEV GOP or SEC DEV ISRAEL....

[joesapper]

Laundry of money is never good once it has been discovered as dirty work .

All the coin going is not going to clean up the past laundry , nor is the foam of fast talk and spin .

Laundry money for Iran is a crime ?

[marychgo]

ANOTHER misleading headline, CBS? Hagel isn't under fire "for his views on Israel"; he's under fire for his views about certain lobbying groups that CLAIM to represent all American Jews' opinions on Israel but IN FACT represent the opinions of only one faction among American Jews. Most Americans of all religions and ethnicities support Israel in some sense, but LOTS of Americans of various religions and ethnicities have serious problems with AIPAC and the other groups your story quotes.

[robert1129]

One unnamed Republican Senate aide went so far as to tell the conservative magazine the Weekly Standard that Hagel is an "anti-Semite." The aide said the basis for that charge was Hagel's remarks in a 2006 interview in which he said, "The Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here." The aide told the Weekly Standard, "Hagel has made clear he believes in the existence of a nefarious Jewish lobby that secretly controls U.S. foreign policy. This is the worst kind of anti-Semitism there is."
---------------------------------------------
Anyone not willing to release his identify when making remarks like these has zero credibility. Anyone that gives him credence is one sick puppy.

[tl29szzz920]

Totally agree. The reverberation that you hear is the echoes of the Israeli planted surrogates in the corridors of our political institutions. The noise gets much louder the minute an American politician or leader promotes a concept which the Israeli government disagrees. So who is really running our government, Americans or Israeli's?

I say, put a muzzle on them or tell them to get out and go back to Israel, because they obviously aren't working in our interests.