Two centrist Jewish groups called for further review of Chuck Hagel's
record in light of an account of a 2007 speech in which he allegedly
said the State Department acted as an "adjunct" of Israel's foreign
ministry.
Hagel, President Obama's nominee for defense secretary, has the
support of a majority of senators, but confirmation of his nomination
was blocked on Feb. 14 by several Republican senators exercising their
power to hold any vote.
"Chuck Hagel has served this country, and his state, with
distinction, as we have had the privilege to tell him in person," the
American Jewish Committee said in a statement jan. 15. "But in light of
his complex record in the Senate and controversial statements he has
made since his public service on strategic and political affairs –
notably grappling with the range of pressing Middle East issues – AJC
believes that further Senate deliberation is called for before any final
vote is taken."
The Washington Free Beacon reported Jan. 14, in a posting just hours
before the failed bid in the Senate to advance Hagel's nomination, a
contemporaneous account of a Hagel speech delivered in 2007 at Rutgers
University.
George Ajjan, a blogger sympathetic to Hagel's foreign policy views,
quoted him as saying "The State Department has become adjunct to the
Israeli Foreign Minister's office."
Hagel then was a Republican senator from Nebraska considering a presidential run.
The AJC statement alluded to that revelation. "Moreover, reports are
now circulating that the nominee purportedly spoke derisively in recent
years of U.S. policy-making regarding Israel and the vital U.S.-Israel
relationship," it said. "Thus, we feel it especially important that
Sen.Hagel be given a full opportunity to clear the air, so that the
Senate can have a more thorough picture of the nominee's views." ."
Abraham Foxman, the Anti-Defamation League's national director, in a call to JTA, also called for Hagel to explain the remark.
"If it is true, it is very disturbing," Foxman said. "If he didn't
say it, it behooves him to tell friends and detractors that he didn't
say it."
Foxman added however: "It is somewhat puzzling that this quote would
surface just on the eve of the vote" to advance the nomination.
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/02/16/3119756/adl-ajc-call-for-further-review-of-hagel-statements
Saturday 16 February 2013
ADL, AJC call for further review of Hagel statements
Posted @ 17:43
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