Indecisive Senator Hagel has Questionable Israel Record

As Senator Hagel sits around for six more months and tries to decide whether to launch a futile bid for the White House, he has a lot of questions to answer about his commitment to Israel.  Consider this:

- 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 refsued 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 Authroity 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.

Here's what the National Review wrote about Hagel's stance on Israel in 2002:

"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." 

And here's what the anti-Israel group, CAIR wrote in praise of Hagel:

“Potential presidential candidates for 2008, like Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Joe Biden and Newt Gingrich, were falling all over themselves to express their support for Israel. The only exception to that rule was Senator Chuck Hagel …” [Council on American-Islamic Relations, 8/28/06]