Daily Times

Former US Senator Chuck Hagel is widely considered as President Obama’s most favoured candidate to be the next Secretary of Defence after the incumbent, Leon Panetta’s retirement. However, since his name came up for nomination, Hagel has been under serious attack from the extremely powerful pro-Israeli groups for having made a few comments about Israel and the Jewish lobby, and their collective influence on contemporary American politics. Incidentally, the criticism Hagel is facing does not call into question his qualifications and thus serves to prove the point that hardline Israeli supporters do enjoy a great deal of clout in Washington.

Chuck Hagel is a former Senator from the State of Nebraska and belongs to the Republican Party. He retired from the Senate in 2008 and currently teaches at Georgetown University. He also serves as the chairman of the Atlantic Council, and co-chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. The former US Senator is a war veteran, having served in Vietnam as an infantry squad leader. During his service in Vietnam, Hagel won two Purple Hearts and several other military decorations.

Amid growing calls for waging war on Iran, Hagel told a hawkish war supporter that he was, above all, a US Senator, and not an Israeli one. Hagel also called into question the immense power of the Jewish lobby, how it affects US foreign policy. Consequently, Chuck Hagel has been labelled an anti-Semite, pro-Iranian and anti-Israeli.

The smear campaign against Chuck Hagel brings to the fore a particularly unpleasant truth about the US’s political environment: the viability of any candidate for any responsible post in the US administration depends on his/her views regarding Israel. There is zero tolerance for offering a critique of the Zionist state or its actions. It does not matter if the criticism is sound and justifiable. There must be no criticism at all.

The American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is one of the most powerful and influential pro-Israeli lobbying groups that, in the words of its critics, has a stranglehold on Congress. AIPAC and other such groups have successfully established a misconception that the interests of the US and Israel are synonymous. Chuck Hagel courageously pointed out that the concept of US-Israeli identical interests was a myth, not a reality. American policymakers are also waking up to the reality that the main reason behind widespread anti-US emotions in the Middle East is its unconditional support for Israel.

Hagel, by openly talking about the Israeli lobby and its immense power, violated a taboo. He had the ‘nerve’ to acknowledge the fact that the lobby controls quite a few members of Congress. In his book The much too promised land, Aaron Miller quoted Hagel as saying that he usually sees around 90 senators’ signatures on almost all the pro-Israeli letters circulated by AIPAC from time to time.

Not strangely, the neocons are citing other reasons for attacking Hagel rather than mentioning his views about Israel. Take for example the editor of a famous newspaper who seems to be too concerned about Hagel’s remarks in an interview to the Financial Times more than a year ago. In the said interview, Hagel bluntly pointed out that the Pentagon needed paring down. The editor was also fretting about his lack of interest in going to war with Iran. It is a known fact that Hagel has always called for direct negotiations with Iran rather than imposing sanctions on the country. Chuck Hagel’s other ‘crimes’ include recognising the fact that the Iraq war was a blunder. On other occasions, he called for negotiations with Hamas and opined that Iran’s nuclear issue could not be solved by military force. If Mr Obama lets him go, then it will be the second time the president would be forced to drop the person of his choice for a high profile job. Previously, he had to let go of Susan Rice while she faced intense criticism for having made misleading remarks about the Benghazi attack earlier this year. Mr Obama wanted the US ambassador to the United Nations to become the US Secretary of State, but that did not happen.

Chuck Hagel’s nomination will send a very strong message to the Israelis and the Israeli lobby that it can no longer blackmail either US administrations or its civil servants into making decisions that are not in the best interests of the United States.

The writer is an investment banker and a freelance columnist for various publications. He can be reached at syedatifshamim@hotmail.com