Content area
Full Text
The times, they are achangin' for America's Jews. Many of us don't even know it; most of us are not going to like it.
President Obama, who got 70 percent of the Jewish vote, has floated the ideal of appointing former Sen. Chuck Hagel to take Leon Panetta's place as Secretary of Defense. Now some of those Jews who voted for him are in pain, asking themselves why Obama would even consider Hagel, who might be described as one of the most anti-Israel senators ever.
Not surprisingly, the fur has started to fly. Pro-Israel Jews -liberals and conservatives both - are very upset. As could be expected, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) was one of the first out the box to document Hagel's long, antagonistic record on Israel. But their fears about Hagel are also being echoed by Jewish Democrats, who are supporters of Obama. ZOA's summation of Hagel's record on Israel is a helpful starting point:
In 2009, Hagel urged Obama to begin direct negotiations with Hamas, an organization whose charter calls for the mass murder of Jews. In 2008, Hagel played a key role in blocking an Iran sanctions bill. In 2006, he told Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller that "the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people." In 2006, Hagel was one of only 12 Senators who refused to call upon the European Union to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization. At the outbreak of the Lebanon war in 2006, Hagel argued against giving Israel the time to break Hezbollah, urging instead an immediate ceasefire.
In 2005, Hagel was one of only 27 senators who refused to sign a letter to President Bush urging him to pressure the Palestinian Authority (PA) to ban terrorist groups from participating in Palestinian legislative elections. In 2004, Hagel...