Hagel to rein in Israel on Iran strike
2013-01-09 16:02
Jerusalem - Chuck Hagel, the nominee for the next US
defence secretary, will seek to rein in Israel over any attempt to carry out a
unilateral strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, Israeli observers believe.
Hagel's nomination by US President Barack Obama must
still be confirmed by the US Senate, but the prospect of the former senator
assuming the top Pentagon post has already stirred concern in Israel.
Analysts and commentators note that Hagel is known for a non-interventionist
approach to foreign policy, and is believed to be strongly opposed to the use
of military force to tackle Iran's nuclear programme.
"The road to Iran stops at Hagel," wrote
commentator Bradley Burston in Wednesday's Haaretz newspaper.
"Obama's message to [Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin] Netanyahu on Iran is succinct enough to be spelled out in 10 letters:
Chuck Hagel.
"The message to Jerusalem is clear: it won't be easy
from now on getting a green light from Washington to embark on an adventure in
Iran," commentator Orly Azulai wrote a day earlier in the top-selling
Yediot Aharonot daily.
"That is one of the reasons why top figures in
Jewish organisations in the US, as well as high-ranking Israeli political
officials, have been spending the part number of weeks engaged in a concerted
effort to prevent Hagel from being appointed," Azulai added.
"They argue that he is bad for Israel because he
supports dialogue with Hamas and Hezbollah, and he doesn't think that the
solution to the Iranian nuclear programme is war."
Masking a weapons drive
Nadav Eyal, writing in the Maariv daily, agreed that
Hagel favoured a non-military solution to the issue of Iran's nuclear
programme, which much of the international community believes masks a weapons
drive, despite Tehran's denials.
"Hagel would like for the US to speak directly with
Iran, and no, he does not believe that war is the necessary outcome of the
nuclear crisis there. He wants to avoid war at almost any price."
Haaretz's Burston said that in selecting Hagel, Obama was
sending the message that in his second term, he would not "grant the same
flexibility" to Netanyahu.
"In the hole he dug with his ostentatious contempt
for Obama, a hole he cannot afford to deepen, Netanyahu may have stumbled into
paving the way for Hagel's nomination and confirmation," he wrote
referring to the Israeli leader's open backing for Obama's rival in the
presidential elections.
"Thus, the prime minister may ultimately become the
factor that blocked a war with Iran."
Speculation about a possible unilateral Israeli strike on
Iranian nuclear facilities reached fever pitch last year, but ultimately came
to nothing, amid reports of strong US opposition to any such move.
