If I am having a bad hair day, or I’m really not rockin’ that sweater that I sincerely believe looks awesome on me, I genuinely want my true friends to kindly—or harshly, depending on my intransigence—to explain to me that my appearance is not as positive as I may quixotically hope it to be. Similarly, if the United States is in the wrong in international affairs, I would hope that our friends in the world would give us a compelling, well-thought-out argument for why we should change our current trajectory. Israel is one of our best friends in the whole wide world, and so when it is in the wrong, as it sometimes is, I do not think it is a big deal to kindly and gently tap it on the shoulder and say, “Hey, pal, maybe there is a better route.”
Although I do not personally believe Israel was anywhere near the wrong in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War, former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel rose up and tapped his friend on the shoulder. He just wanted peace. His friend was wearing the chicest of Banana Republic button downs, but Hagel did not think it looked so appealing, and so he voiced his opinion. That is all.
Since publicizing his opposition to any future military strike against Iran back in 2006, when such a strike would have been severely premature, Hagel has reneged his former position and has publicly stated that all options, including military ones, should be left on the table against the menacing Iranian regime.
Hagel has recently been rebuked and denounced as anti-Israel, and even anti-Semitic, for his 2006 comment, “I’m a United States senator. I’m not an Israeli senator.” His statement is 100% accurate, and as a U.S. senator, he had a responsibility to act in a way that he believed to be best for U.S. interests. Members of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, do not consider U.S. interests as a primary concern when they vote on foreign policy issues. Why? Because Israel is not the 51st state, but rather a sovereign country. It holds the right to make to make its own decisions. While best friends may agree on 99 percent of the issues they face, they are not required to maintain equal positions on that last 1 percent. They are not the same person.
Chuck Hagel is President Obama’s first choice for Secretary of Defense. This is the same President Obama that has led the most grueling battle in the history of economic sanctions against Iran. This is the same President Obama that has lobbied Congress for one billion dollars to support the Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system, which saved innumerable lives of Israeli civilians during Hamas’ most recent barrage of rockets into south and central Israel. This is the same President Obama that relentlessly calls on the European Union to recognize Hezbollah for what it is, a terrorist organization. This is the same President Obama that has had his ambassadors to the United Nations repeatedly walk out on the Iranian regime as they give their incendiary, vitriolic speeches on the U.N. floor. So when I hear that by selecting Hagel as Secretary of Defense, President Obama is demonstrating his true colors toward Israel, I must conclude that Hagel fits in line with all of the colors I have just mentioned.
The Republicans, still bruised from a feckless presidential and senatorial campaign in November, harbor a lot of bad blood toward President Obama. I presume they don’t fancy Obama reaching across the aisle and demonstrating bipartisanship as he chooses Hagel, a Republican, for such a high position, just as the current President did with former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, former Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, and many others. Strict partisan behavior is no longer an argument that the Republicans can use against President Obama, and that stings. But to charge that President Obama and Chuck Hagel will endanger the U.S. standing in the world and throw our friend Israel under the bus is groundless and inane.
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