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Friday, October 30, 2009
ZOA To President Obama: Rescind Appointment Of Anti-Israel, Anti-Iran Sanctions Fmr. Sen. Hagel To Intelligence Panel

For annotated version
www.zoa.org/sitedocuments/pressrelease_view.asp?pressreleaseID=1737

NEWS RELEASE
Zionist Organization of America
Jacob & Libby Goodman ZOA House, 4 East 34th Street, New York, N.Y. 10016
(212) 481-1500 Fax: (212) 481-1515 email@zoa.org www.zoa.org

October 29, 2009
Contact Morton A. Klein at: 917-974-8795 or 212-481-1500
Attn: NEWS EDITOR

ZOA TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: RESCIND APPOINTMENT
OF ANTI-ISRAEL, ANTI-IRAN SANCTIONS FMR. SEN. HAGEL
TO INTELLIGENCE PANEL

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has called upon President Barack
Obama to rescind his appointment of retired anti-Israel, anti-Iran sanctions
Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska to the President's Intelligence
Advisory Board. Hagel, has who will co-chair the Board, has a long and
troubling record of hostility to Israel which has been criticized by both
the Democratic and Republican Jewish coalitions.

In fact, the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) posted in March 2007,
when Sen. Hagel was seeking the Republican presidential nomination, a
detailed list of then-Senator Hagel's record on Israel that reads as
follows:

"In August 2006, Hagel was one of only 12 Senators who refused to write the
EU asking them to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization.
In October 2000, Hagel was one of only 4 Senators who refused to sign a
Senate letter in support of Israel.
In November 2001, Hagel was one of only 11 Senators who refused to sign a
letter urging President Bush not to meet with the late Yassir Arafat until
his forces ended the violence against Israel.
In December 2005, Hagel was one of only 27 who refused to sign a letter to
President Bush to pressure the Palestinian Authority to ban terrorist groups
from participating in Palestinian legislative elections.
In June 2004, Hagel refused to sign a letter urging President Bush to
highlight Iran's nuclear program at the G-8 summit" ('Indecisive Senator
Hagel has Questionable Israel Record,' March 12, 2007, National Jewish
Democratic Council).

Additionally, Sen. Hagel wrote in a 2002 Washington Post op-ed that he
opposed then-President George W. Bush's refusal to meet arch-terrorist
Yasser Arafat saying that "we cannot hold the Middle East peace process
hostage by making Yasser Arafat the issue . Palestinian reformers cannot
promote a democratic agenda for change while both the Israeli military
occupation and settlement activity continue . Israel must take steps to show
its commitment to peace" ('We Shouldn't Make Arafat the Issue,' Washington
Post, July 19, 2002).

Hagel has stated (in an interview quoted in Aaron David Miller's Much Too
Promised Land) that "The political reality is that ... the Jewish lobby
intimidates a lot of people up here," thereby implying that Americans who
express concern for Israel and see the U.S.-Israeli relationship as a
cornerstone of American security have dual loyalties. When once confronted
with the charge that he is insufficiently supportive of Israel, Hagel
replied, "Let me clear something up here if there's any doubt in your mind.
I'm a United States Senator. I'm not an Israeli senator. I'm a United States
Senator. I support Israel. But my first interest is, I take an oath of
office to the constitution of the United States. Not to a president, not to
a party, not to Israel" (Quoted in 'RJC: Hagel's record makes intelligence
panel appointment troubling,' October 28, 2009, Republican Jewish
Coalition).

In October 2008, Hagel prevented action on a Senate bill - sponsored by
then-Senator Barack Obama - proposing economic sanctions against Iran. Hagel
has argued that, "Whether we like it or not, there will be no peace or
stability in the Middle East without Iran's participation" (Connie Bruck,
'The Odd Man Out,' New Yorker Magazine, November 3, 2008)

John J. Miller, National Review's National Political Reporter, wrote the
following about Hagel in 2002:

ยท "There's nothing Hagel likes less than talking about right and
wrong in the context of foreign policy. Pro-Israeli groups view him almost
uniformly as a problem. 'He doesn't always cast bad votes, but he always
says the wrong thing,' comments an Israel supporter who watches Congress. An
April speech is a case in point. 'We will need a wider lens to grasp the
complex nature and consequences of terrorism,' said Hagel. He went on to
cite a few examples of terrorism: FARC in Colombia, Abu Sayyaf in the
Philippines, and the Palestinian suicide bombers. Then he continued, 'Arabs
and Palestinians view the civilian casualties resulting from Israeli
military occupation as terrorism.' He didn't exactly say he shares this
view - but he also failed to reject it" (John J. Miller, 'Sen. Skeptic (R.,
France),' National Review, August 17, 2002).

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, "It is clear from Chuck Hagel's
record in the Senate that we have here an unusually hostile figure when it
comes to Israel, the U.S.-Israeli relationship and one who shows little
interest in dealing with the threat posed by Iran to the U.S., Israel and
the world by their seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. That such a figure
will have a key role to play on the President's Intelligence Advisory Board
is of grave concern. This is especially so when one considers that the
Intelligence Advisory Board exists solely for the purpose of providing the
President with an independent source of advice on intelligence matters and
which reports directly to him.

"We call upon President Obama to rescind this appointment and we call upon
other pro-American, American Jewish groups and pro-Israel groups to do the
same. In particular, we call upon the National Jewish Democratic Council,
which scrupulously noted then-Senator Hagel's shortcomings on Israel when he
was seeking the Republican presidential nomination, to make its voice heard
in opposition to this truly disturbing appointment.

"Any American who is concerned about Iran's drive to obtain nuclear weapons,
maintaining the Israeli-U.S. relationship and supporting Israel in its
legitimate fight to protect her citizens from terrorism should oppose this
appointment."

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