Hagel vows 'total support' for Israel
2013-01-08 14:01
Washington - Chuck Hagel, bracing for a bruising Senate confirmation as the
next US defence secretary, pledged "total support" for Israel on
Monday after lawmakers criticised his Middle East views.
There is "not one shred of evidence that I'm anti-Israeli, not one vote
[of mine] that matters that hurt Israel", the former Republican senator
told The Lincoln Journal Star, a newspaper in his home state of Nebraska.
Hagel and Democratic President Barack Obama did not address the controversy
as he was nominated at the White House. But the Nebraska newspaper quoted the
famously blunt senator as saying critics have "completely distorted"
his record.
Hagel said that, until his nomination was announced, he had been
"hanging out in no-man's land unable to respond to charges, falsehoods and
distortions" and that he has shown "unequivocal, total support for
Israel".
Criticism
Pro-Israel lawmakers have denounced Hagel, with some commentators accusing
him of anti-Semitism, for his past comments that "the Jewish lobby"
intimidated members of Congress and that he is "not an Israeli senator".
In what could be a preview of his case in confirmation hearings, Hagel told
the newspaper he did not sign on to largely symbolic resolutions in Congress
supported by a pro-Israeli group because they were "counter-productive".
"How does that further the peace process in the Middle East?"
Hagel asked. "What's in Israel's interest is to help Israel and the
Palestinians find some peaceful way to live together."
Hagel's critics have also denounced him for opposing economic sanctions on
Iran. US lawmakers accuse Iran of developing nuclear weapons, although the
clerical government says that its programme is for peaceful purposes.
Hagel told the newspaper that he opposed sanctions that were imposed only by
the United States.
"United Nations sanctions are working. When we just decree something,
that doesn't work," he said.
Sanctions
The Obama administration, after initial outreach to Iran, has worked through
the United Nations to impose sanctions. Obama also signed a tough law initiated
by Congress that punishes countries that buy Iran's oil, its key export.
On cue as Obama announced the nomination, the conservative Emergency
Committee for Israel launched a website that attacks Hagel as "not a
responsible option." The website is www.chuckhagel.com, the former senator
apparently having failed to secure the address with his name.
Senator James Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services
Committee that must approve Hagel, said his nomination "deserves to be fully
vetted" under the "time-tested process."
But Inhofe said he would seek clarifications about "serious
concerns" over some of Hagel's positions, a statement echoed by Republican
Senator John McCain.
Senator Carl Levin, the Democrat who heads the committee, said that Hagel
was "well-qualified" and promised "prompt and careful
consideration" of the nomination.
Concerned
In the House of Representatives, which does not confirm nominations,
Republican majority leader Eric Cantor said he was "profoundly
concerned" and called Hagel's past statements on Israel "inflammatory".
Cantor, the sole Jewish Republican in Congress, said Hagel's views "are
well outside the mainstream and raise well-founded doubts that he can be
trusted to manage the special relationship the United States shares with our
greatest Middle Eastern ally".
But retired general Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state under
president George W Bush, said Hagel was a "splendid" choice who would
be "the kind of independent and bold leader who thinks in and out of the
box".
Hagel still has shrapnel in his chest from Vietnam, a war that fuelled his
belief that military action should be a last resort. He angered fellow
Republicans through his strident criticism of the Iraq war that included
calling the Bush administration's efforts "beyond pitiful".
Hagel, however, was conservative on most issues in the Senate and denounced
an ambassador named by former president Bill Clinton because the nominee was
openly gay. Hagel recently apologised for the episode.
Democrat Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay senator, told MSNBC television
that she wanted to speak to Hagel to "see if his apology is sincere and
sufficient".
- SAPA
