<div><br></div><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/divisive-israel-centered-battle-royal-looms-in-washington-as-hagel-appointment-appears-imminent.premium-1.491984" target="_blank">http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/divisive-israel-centered-battle-royal-looms-in-washington-as-hagel-appointment-appears-imminent.premium-1.491984</a><br>
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<br>Haaretz, <br><h1>
Divisive, Israel-centered battle royal looms in Washington as Hagel appointment appears imminent</h1>Chemi Shalev, Jan. 4, 2013<br><br><h2>Sources confirm Foreign Policy report on likelihood of controversial
choice for Secretary of Defense; Hagel’s confirmation may inflame
Jewish community and harm Israeli interests, whatever happens.</h2>
<span>
</span> <p> There are increasing indications that U.S. President Barack Obama
plans to push ahead with the appointment of former Republican Senator
Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense, setting the stage for a fierce
political confirmation battle in which Israel will play a central role.
</p>
<p>
Although there has been no official statement, informed sources told
Haaretz that they have “every reason to believe” the veracity of a
Friday <a href="http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/01/04/obama_expected_to_pick_hagel_as_opponents_prepare_for_a_fight" target="_blank">report in Foreign Policy</a>,
according to which Obama is expected to announce Hagel’s appointment
“as early as Monday”. The sources said that several leading figures in
the Democratic Party had been informally told that Hagel would be
chosen.
</p>
<p>
If the reports are borne out, the appointment of the maverick former
senator from Nebraska is likely to spark an all-out political
conflagration that would pit Democrats against Republicans, liberals vs.
neocons - and Hagel-supporters against his opponents inside the Jewish
community.
</p>
<p>
Hagel, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who broke with his party over
the Iraq war, has been criticized in recent days for his lack of
executive experience, his gruff attitude toward co-workers and
derogatory comments that he made 15 years ago against a gay American
diplomat. But it is his attitude toward issues that are of critical
concern to Israel, such as Iran and Hamas, as well as statements that
his detractors claim show his “animus” toward Israel and its U.S.
supporters, that have been the focal point of the bitter debate that has
raged in the American media in the wake of leaked press reports of his
candidacy.
</p>
<p>
In addition to conservative columnists such as the Wall Street
Journal’s Bret Stephens and the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol and
right-wing groups such as the Republican Jewish Coalition and the
Emergency Committee for Israel, the denunciation of Hagel’s record on
Israel has also included mainstream Jewish groups such as the American
Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League. The ADL’s Abe Foxman
has said that Hagel’s statements on the “Jewish lobby” and on his being
“a U.S. senator and not an Israeli senator” – “border on anti-Semitism.”
</p>
<p>
On the opposite end, Hagel has won the endorsement of the left-wing J
Street group and his candidacy to replace the outgoing Defense Secretary
Leon Panetta has been supported by Thomas Friedman of the New York
Times and author Peter Beinart, writing in his Open Zion blog. Hagel has
also won the public endorsement of nine former U.S. ambassadors,
including four envoys to Israel, as well as former senators and national
security advisers from both political parties.
</p>
<p>
Although the premier pro-Israel advocacy group, AIPAC, has refrained
from commenting publicly on Hagel, the argument over his appointment has
also been framed as a “test of the power of the pro-Israel lobby”. From
this point of view, AIPAC is facing a potential lose-lose situation: if
Hagel is confirmed, it will be viewed as a blow to the organization’s
prestige, but if it is denied, it will be portrayed as proof of the
lobby’s all-powerful influence on U.S. politics.
</p>
<p>
The confirmation can also be expected to reignite the debate about
Obama’s own attitude toward Israel. The president’s detractors will no
doubt point to a Hagel appointment as validation of their claim during
the recent presidential campaign that Obama harbors ill will toward
Israel and has no intention of confronting Iran’s nuclear program.
Hagel’s supporters will counter that Hagel is a fair-minded politician
who will implement Obama’s policies and whose only sin was that he
refused to endorse the agenda of the right-wing pro-settlement lobby.
</p>
<p>
One thing seems almost certain: Israel, and its long-term interests,
will not be served by the controversy that now seems almost certain to
erupt. Thus, it behooves Israeli policy makers to make sure that they
are in no way seen to be involved in the upcoming battle royal in
Washington. <br></p><p><br></p><p>*****************</p><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><p><br></p></font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">-- <br>Robert Naiman<br>Policy Director<br>Just Foreign Policy<br>
<a href="http://www.justforeignpolicy.org" target="_blank">www.justforeignpolicy.org</a><br>
<a href="mailto:naiman@justforeignpolicy.org" target="_blank">naiman@justforeignpolicy.org</a><br>
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