ZOA Praises ADL, AJC Call For Further Review of Hagel’s Record – AIPAC & Others Silent
News Press Release
February 20, 2013

ADL, AJC, AIPAC Should Explicitly Oppose Hagel

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) yesterday called for a “further review of Chuck Hagel’s views on vitally important national security and foreign policy issues…before any final vote is taken.”

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which has said “the sentiments Hagel expressed…border on anti-Semitism in the genre of professors Mearscheimer and Walt and Jimmy Carter,” now wants Hagel to explain some of his anti-Israel remarks.  Abe Foxman, Director of ADL, said, “If it’s true (surfacing of more Hagel anti-Israel remarks), It’s very disturbing.”

Daniel Greenfield wrote yesterday in Frontpage Mag,: “The ADL is rather late to the party and rather lukewarm, but the AJC’s move is rather bracing.  The American Jewish Committee is not exactly known for taking bold pro-Israel positions. And suddenly it has waded into territory that only the ZOA, arguably the only major pro-Israel organization, has dared to venture into. …But the Hagel nomination is yet another opportunity to demonstrate that there is a fundamental breach between the interests of the Jewish community and of the extreme left that has taken over the Democratic Party.…”

But one Democrat, Eliot Engel (D-NY), has spoken out against Hagel.  He characterized Hagel’s outlook as having “some kind of endemic hostility toward Israel.” Mideast scholar Dan Pipes wrote, “Hagel is known for only two foreign policy/defense views; being soft on Iran and hostile to Israel.”

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “Although ZOA applauds ADL/AJC’s new statements as important, they don’t go far enough.

“They should both unequivocally oppose the Hagel nomination for his disastrous views against sanctions and possible military action against Iran; his call for negotiations with terror groups Hamas and Hizbollah, his views that the US is the world’s bully; his statement that Israel has committed war crimes and a ‘sickening slaughter’ against Arabs, is ‘risking becoming an apartheid state’, that Israel has control over the State Department, and the ‘Jewish Lobby’ causes Congress to do stupid things, and more…

“The AJC, the ADL, AIPAC and other groups should join the ZOA, JINSA, the National Council of Young Israel, the Republican Jewish Committee, Christians United for Israel (CUFI) and NORPAC and oppose a man who is bad for American interests, soft on Iran and on radical Islamic terrorism and bad for strong US-Israel relations.”

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