By Dr. Joseph Frager
(December 8, 2024 / Israel National News) Pete Hegseth is a brilliant, quality war veteran with two bronze medals to his name. I could not think of a more suitable candidate to run the Pentagon. He will inject energy, vitality and battlefield tested experience to a massive bureaucracy. As Pete said recently on a must see interview with Megyn Kelly, “Let’s bring the Pentagon back to the people.”
I met Pete Hegseth in 2014 at a Conference on EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse). He was not yet working for Fox. We were all concerned that the enemies of America, especially Iran, would use an EMP attack on the U.S. to knock out the electrical grid. This would lead to utter devastation. The goal of the event was to make sure to “harden” the grid. I am sure Pete will continue to make this one of his priorities as Secretary of Defense.
He has become one of Israel’s greatest friends. I have watched him for days and weeks at a time and he has always been an upstanding, deeply caring, and terrific person. There were never any improprieties. The allegations against him are baseless, without merit, and utterly ridiculous. He is one of America’s greatest sons. As he himself says, “It is the classic art of the smear.”
In 2016 we visited Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs. He said at the time, “Before coming to Hebron, I didn’t truly understand the depth of the situation. Biblically I understood the basic sense, but when you see it in front of you, you realize the significance. You go there and realize the ongoing contention – where Jews can go and they can’t. You realize it’s a massive city surrounding the holy site of Judaism. This is the root of Judaism and I commend the community that maintains the heritage here.” He is a man of deep faith and humility and recognizes the plight of the Jewish People.
At a dinner in his honor in Jerusalem, he said, “I come here as an individual veteran, an American invested in the future of the free world, our country, and Israel. Israel is indispensable for the future of the West and human freedom. Any erosion of that Alliance with the U.S undercuts the bedrock of principles we were founded on.” No one has said it better.
In February of 2018, we went to the Golan Heights, and saw the terror tunnels along the Gaza border, and Iron Dome batteries. He did a Fox special on the Golan Heights.
He drew a connection between the struggles Israel faces and America deals with in a speech he gave at another event in Israel. He borrowed from his book, In the Arena, quoting Teddy Roosevelt, “Great Republics are not about good leaders but good citizens, willingness to work, fight, and have large healthy families for demographics. We need faith and character and must believe in something bigger than yourself.”
Pete Hegseth has not had a sheltered life. He is a fighter to the core. He went to Princeton and Harvard and could have taken the easy route. He has devoted his every breath to helping America. He is truly a Renaissance Man. President Trump chose wisely. Pete Hegseth will go down in history as one of the greatest Secretaries of Defense ever.
This op-ed was previously published in Israel National News – Arutz Sheva and can be viewed here.