The above is a video of a speech Senator Hagel gave to the anti-Zionist group J-Street in 2009 at their first national convention.
Amazingly, J-Street is attempting to defy the Senate Armed Services Committee by refusing to provide the tape, in which Senator Hagel improvised quite a bit and in which his remarks are very different than the prepared text, courtesy of the Atlantic Council where Hagel serves on the board with his good friend Chas Freeman.
After watching this, I’d love to ask Senator Hagel a few questions, among the many I could pose while tearing this nonsense to shreds:
1) You refer to the Arabs whom identify themselves as Palestinians as a ‘house divided’ and make an appeal for the U.S.to facilitate Palestinian unity…and obvious call for Hamas and Fatah to become one entity. What exactly would the U.S. gain by empowering a genocidal group into the mix our government rightly labels a terrorist organization like Hamas that’s sworn to Israel’s destruction? What would Israel gain by negotiating with them, and how could Israel trust any agreement that was made? What does America gain?
2)You laud the Arab Peace initiative and call it an important step. That initiative calls for Israel to retreat back to the pre ’67 borders, uproot half a million of its citizens, and redivide Jerusalem( including th eholiest sites of the Jewish religion) in exchange for words on a peace of paper. You also mention that the terms ‘could be negotiated’.
The Saudis, who issued the initiative made it plain that this was an ultimatum and non-negotiable. So has Mahmod Abbas, numerous times. We needn’t even mention Hamas, who have said that they will never recognize Israel.What exactly are you saying is ‘up for negotiation’?
3) Have you ever read the Qu’ran, Senator? Or the Hadiths? Are you aware of what those say about Jews, sir? About any agreements made with non-Muslims? By their own admission, the Arabs calling themselves Palestinians have freely admitted that in their eyes, both Oslo and the Road Map, treaties the Israelis signed in good faith with them are null and void since they now have a firmer grip on what they want. And in Egypt, while the Camp David Accords are holding (barely) the Islamist dominated parliament is wildly in favor a ditching that treaty, and the Egyptians sacked Israel’s embassy in Cairo and actually had Israeli diplomats virtually imprisoned until there was U.S. pressure to let them leave the country. What value, really, would any more of these treaties be in terms of keeping the peace if they can be violated at will?
4) When has ‘land for peace’ worked for Israel in the past? Or security agreements, for that matter? The ones agreed to by the U.S., the EU , Egypt and the Palestinians as part of the Israeli disengagement from Gaza were supposed to be ironclad,assured Israeli PM Sharon that Gaza would no longer be a source of terrorist attacks and congratulated him on his bold steps for peace. How’d that end up working out? Back when the Arabs held the Golan Heights, all of Judea and Samaria and half of Jerusalem, was there peace? Was Israel less secure or more secure?
5) In your public remarks and per your voting record, Senator, you’re very much opposed to the U.S> labeling Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups even though both are openly genocidal towards Jews and both have the blood of American citizens on their hands, especially Hezbollah. And you also have been an outspoken proponent of Israel negotiating a ‘land for peace’ treaty with Syria’s Basher Assad. Why would you expect these notoriously bad actors to want to make peace with Israel on any terms that meant anything, and why would anyone reasonable expect them to keep it?
6) You’re notorious for being a proponent of severely paring down America’s military and being against any further U.S. military intervention in the Middle East.Given that, what would any security agreements you talk about giving Israel be worth if the Arabs attack Israel’s pre ’67 indefensible borders once they had the strategic areas of the Golan Heights and the high ground in Judea and Samaria under their control? How exactly are you going to get NATO to except Israel as a partner when European nations like the UK observe a de facto arms boycott against Israel and NATO member Islamist Turkey would never accept them?
7) You frequently employ the old strategy of linkage when it comes to the Israel/Palestinian issue.
Let’s play that game and assume that tomorrow, Israel agreed to withdraw completely to the pre-’67 borders and give you everything you want. Is Iran going to cease its quest for nuclear weapons? Are Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others going to give up their missile arsenals and cease trying to destroy Israel? Is Islamist Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi going to suddenly develop new affection for the people he referred to in Q’urannic terms as the descendents of apes and pigs and decide that he doesn’t need those F-16s and Abrams tanks you want to send him? What changes, aside from a severely weakened Israel?
8) In your speech, you mouth a lot of platitudes about freedom and the dignity of man. Why are you and the Obama Administration so critical of the side that actually practices it and so supportive and unwilling to criticize in any way the side that doesn’t? Nations don’t just have interests, they have principles. Or is that not something you agree with?
9) Why exactly are you asking Israel to do something and abide by rules you would not ask any of our other allies to do?
There’s a lot more, but just running these down gives you a good idea of Hagel’s views and character.
I’m hoping good sense prevails, but I unfortunately expect him to be confirmed.
Authored By J O S H U A P U N D I T
