By DICK MORRIS
Published on
DickMorris.com on January 10, 2013
Now that President Obama has nominated Senator Chuck Hagel for Defense
Secretary, we will see who the real friends of Israel are. Jews in New
York State, in particular, are very interested in whether their Senator
-- Chuck Schumer -- has the moxie to stand up against the Hagel
nomination.
The litany of Hagel's sympathy for the Palestinians and his willingness
to equate Israel's moral position with those of the Hezbollah/Hams
terrorists is there for all to see.
Hagel won the praise of Hezbollah in 2006 which said "except for Sen.
Chuck Hagel, no one in Congress is willing to stand up to the Israeli
Lobby."
Invited to be the keynote speaker at the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Hagel said Washington should
cultivate "a deeper level of understanding of what's at stake and of
what the people -- especially the Palestinian people -- have endured
over the last 50 or 100 years."
After an outbreak of suicide/homicide bombings in Israel, Hagel made
clear that he believes Israel was, in part, to blame. Saying that
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has "essentially stopped the
[peace] process," Hagel said "The Israeli government essentially
continues to play games...What I fear more today is that desperate men
do desperate things when you take hope away. And that's where the
Palestinians are today."
Saying "I'm not an Israeli Senator, I'm an American Senator," Hagel
complained in a recent interview that "the Jewish lobby intimidates a
lot of people up here [in Washington]."
Hagel has opposed tough sanctions on Iran.
And, in October of 2000, he was one of only four Senators who refused to
co-sign a letter to President Clinton expression solidarity with Israel
as it was subjected to the repeated terrorist attacks of a new
Palestinian intifada. Indeed, Hagel also refused to sign a letter
initiated by Senator Joe Biden calling for a re-evaluation of relations
with the Palestinian Authority in light of the attacks.
Schumer holds the key to the Hagel nomination. Republicans will
oppose his confirmation. If Schumer leads the way, other
Democratic Senators from states with large Jewish populations - Nelson
and Lautenberg (NJ), Gillibrand (NY), Nelson (FL), and Boxer and
Feinstein (Cal) will feel pressure to follow suit.
So what will it be Chuck? Stand up for Israel or cave in?
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