[Peace-discuss] Haaretz: Divisive, Israel-Centered Battle Royal Looms in Washington as Hagel Appointment Appears Imminent

[Robert Naiman]

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/divisive-israel-centered-battle-royal-looms-in-washington-as-hagel-appointment-appears-imminent.premium-1.491984

Haaretz,
Divisive, Israel-centered battle royal looms in Washington as Hagel
appointment appears imminentChemi Shalev, Jan. 4, 2013

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.

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.

Although there has been no official statement, informed sources told
Haaretz that they have “every reason to believe” the veracity of a
Friday report
in Foreign Policy<http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/01/04/obama_expected_to_pick_hagel_as_opponents_prepare_for_a_fight>,
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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.


*****************


-- 
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
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