Chuck Hagel: Friend or foe?

Those who support his nomination laud him for „going against the grain,” and Hagel himself maintains he has „unequivocal” support for Israel, but his actions in the past as a senator have placed him on the opposing side of Israel’s interests many times.

NEW YORK — U.S. President Barack Obama’s nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense has garnered a lot of criticism, largely for his stance on Israel. It seems Obama has a difficult battle ahead of him in getting senate approval for Hagel. So why is the nomination of the former legislator, a twice-decorated war hero, being met with so much resistance?

Hagel said on Monday that anyone who looks closely at his past will see that he has „unequivocal and unshakable support for Israel.” Yet he angered many in Jewish organizations and pro-Israel groups in 2006 when he called the pro-Israel lobby the „Jewish lobby” and accused it of „scaring many in Washington.”

„I was always against some of the stupid things they did because I don’t believe them to be in Israel’s interest,” then senator Hagel said.

„I’m a United States senator. I’m not an Israeli senator. I’m a United States senator. I support Israel, but my first interest is I take an oath of office to the Constitution of the United States — not to a president, not to a party, not to Israel. If I go run for Senate in Israel, I’ll do that. Now I know most senators don’t talk like I do,” Hagel said in a 2006 interview with former Middle East peace negotiator Aaron David Miller.

Unlike most of his colleagues in the Republican Party, Hagel maintained ambivalent relations with Jewish pro-Israel groups.

Hagel abstained time after time from signing letters in Israel’s interest, including a pro-Israel letter drafted in the senate at the outbreak of the Second Intifada. The former senator has not held back from criticizing Israel either: “Israel is our friend and ally, and we must continue our commitment, but not at the expense of the Palestinian people,” he said in 2002.

According to reports, Hagel says his positions on Israel have been “completely distorted,” though he acknowledges that “I have also questioned some very cavalier attitudes taken about very complicated issues in the Middle East.” According to The Washington Post, Hagel has expressed sentiments that many U.S. politicians tend to avoid, including a consistent concern for the plight of the Palestinians.

More than just making statements, Hagel was on the opposing side of pro-Israel policies on numerous occasions. He has voted against U.S. sanctions on Iran on multiple occasions and stated that only international sanctions would be effective in deterring Iran’s nuclear drive. In 2001 he was one of two senators who voted against sanctioning Iran and Libya. Hagel voted against similar bills in later years as well. And now, at a time when his fellow senators are pushing to pressure Iran and put a stop to its nuclear program, Hagel believes in starting direct talks with Tehran.

During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Hagel urged then President George W. Bush to negotiate with Syria and Iran, and a month later refused to sign a letter to the European Union demanding that Hezbollah be recognized as terrorist group. It appears that the candidate for defense secretary in fact does not really believe in war; he has repeatedly voiced his opposition to a military operation in Iran, calling it „not possible and irresponsible” in 2006.

Chuck Hagel’s nomination has received criticism not only from those worried about U.S. foreign policy and defense. Hagel outraged the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in 1998 when he opposed the nomination of James Hormel as ambassador to Luxembourg; Hormel was the first openly gay man to represent the United States as an ambassador. In 1999, Hagel was against lifting the „don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the U.S. military. The policy was repealed by Congress in 2011.

Those who support Hagel’s nomination laud him for „going against the grain” and cite his vocal opposition to the war in Iraq. What the Hagel camp doesn’t like to mention is that in 2002, shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Hagel voted in favor of giving then President Bush the authority to use military force against Iraq.