Former IDF navy chief: Chuck Hagel is a friend of Israel
Former IDF navy chief: Chuck Hagel is a friend of Israel – Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper.
( He was my commander in the IDF Navy. He came up through the ranks of Israel’s SEALS. Almog is an amazing man, believe me. Am I wrong about Hagel? – JW )
Contrary to accusations, says Ze’ev Almog, Hagel opposed closing center serving U.S. troops in Haifa and backed $50 million grant to upgrade facilities at Haifa Port.
Contrary to popular perception, U.S. Secretary of Defense-designate Chuck Hagel is a friend of Israel, a former commander of the Israel Navy said on Tuesday.
Rear Admiral (ret.) Ze’ev Almog, a friend of Hagel’s, objected to the campaign waged against the American’s appointment by groups claiming to defend Israel’s interests. Almog said he opposed efforts to persuade senators not to confirm the nominee.
“From my contacts with him, in Washington and in Israel, I can testify that Hagel was always attentive and friendly toward Israel,” he said.
Almog, who commanded the navy from 1979 to 1985 and later managed Israel Shipyards, said there was no truth to the allegations regarding Hagel’s tenure at the head of USO, an organization that provides entertainment and welfare services to U.S. troops. Hagel’s opponents have said he worked to close the USO Center in Haifa, which served sailors from the U.S. Sixth Fleet when their ships were anchored in Haifa.
According to Almog, who was the first president of Friends of USO in Israel, the opposite is true: Hagel opposed closing the center in Haifa, despite the budget cuts that forced the USO to close facilities elsewhere, including in Europe. Moreover, after being elected to the Senate, Hagel threw his weight behind a $50 million grant to upgrade facilities in and around Haifa Port, including the runway at the air force’s technical school, which was used by planes ferrying supplies to the Sixth Fleet.
Hagel and his colleagues ultimately got the grant approved by Congress in the late 1990s, Almog said, but Israel never used it due to opposition by the Transportation Ministry.
The USO facility in Haifa was finally closed in 2002, more than a decade after Hagel left his post as head of the organization.
Almog added that based on his conversations with Hagel, whether in the American’s office in the Capitol or at a place they both enjoyed south of Herzliya, his impression is that Hagel has a fierce intelligence and a quick understanding. He’s a man of independent opinions but is open to new ideas, Almog added.
And never, he said, did he hear Hagel say anything anti-Israel.
Almog remains in contact with Hagel to this day, sending letters in which he comments on Hagel’s speeches and articles. He also receives greeting cards that begin “Dear Ze’ev and Geula” and end “Your friend, Chuck.”
Hagel also has many supporters in the security and diplomatic communities in Washington. These include people who served as national security advisers under presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, both Bushes and Obama: Brent Scowcroft, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Frank Carlucci and James Jones.
Also on the list of Hagel supporters are two former heads of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Anthony Zinni and Adm. William Fallon, as well as three former ambassadors to Israel: Sam Lewis, Thomas Pickering and Daniel Kurtzer.
Many of the people on this list joined Hagel last October in writing a report that questioned the benefits of a military operation against Iran’s nuclear program.
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WarSclerotic 
January 9, 2013 at 7:36 PM
Of course everybody wants to coold down this thing; they are telling him now, ”look, we know you are a great and trully friend of Israel, so we expect from you to act as one in your new assignment.”
We dont have to be afraid about ”Chuck”. He will be ok. He doesnt want to show to the world what a sorry antisemite he is. What we – and our american friends – should be worried about is Obama.
January 10, 2013 at 1:12 AM
My old Sicilian grandfather once told me an old saying, “Quando pesce puzza, pesce puzza da la testa.” which means, “When fish stink, fish stink from the head.” This certainly applies in this case.
January 9, 2013 at 9:21 PM
Interesting and thought provoking. Assuming he is confirmed, only time will tell.
January 9, 2013 at 11:13 PM
Hagel’s own words and actions still taint him. He still has a lot of bad baggage of his own aside from anything to do with Isreal. Maybe he acted decently in this case- but as it is well known…
Good people sometimes do bad things….
…bad people sometimes do good.
January 10, 2013 at 2:36 AM
Gene Simmons telling it as it is
January 10, 2013 at 9:17 AM
One naive Israeli military officer approves the nomination of Hagel…just like Iran approves it !
Many high-ranked Israeli military officers refuse to do anything serious to prevent antisemitic Iran from becoming a nuclear-armed radical Muslim dictatorship. They are just as irresponsible as all the men in power in Europe in the 1930s who refused to attack Hitler and the Nazis while they were rebuilding a powerful German army. Those who forget that most men in power in Europe in the 1930s did nothing against the rise of Nazism, and do not understand why they did nothing, will not see it when it happens again. But it will be worse, because nuclear weapons are far worse than any weapon the Nazis possessed.
Many men are tired of fighting, they just want to have a cool life. They are too used to pleasure to fully face an unpleasant reality and its consequences when it arises on the horizon. Many men who fought for Israel all their lives share this feeling peace, they think they deserve to live in peace at last, and expressed it in the Israeli media. That it the main reason the Roman Empire crashed. Romans had such a pleasurable life. They did not want to interrupt it to go to war anymore. That is human. But that is also deadly. Because there still are many barbarians on this planet, just like at the end of the Roman Empire. If we lower the guard, they will soon seize the opportunity to destroy us without pity, just like the Nazis.
I know it is hard to believe that we can fall from the top, but that is what History teaches us.
January 10, 2013 at 10:31 AM
Lots of wisdom in your comment Kishonist. Especially about the world being full of barbarians who can only get rich by stealing from others. I keep coming back to the example of Rhodesia. First Rhodesia was destroyed by the Communists, now South Africa is being destroyed, and next on the list slated for destruction is Israel. Learn the lessons of Rhodesia and avoid their fate. Rhodesia was betrayed by those in England who are now busy destroying England itself. Israel could very well be betrayed by Hagel in the US, as Hagel and Obama are now busy destroying the US itself.
January 10, 2013 at 10:23 AM
Well spoken.
January 10, 2013 at 5:10 PM
JW,
The nominations of Hagel and Brennan and a bunch of tax raises – these are all signs that Hussein’s second term will be even more radical than the first.
I shudder to think what our country will look like if and when the Republicans ever return to power.
January 10, 2013 at 5:51 PM
The republicans can’t stand a chance against a black president. Obama was the wet dream of the american left. They still dont believe what happened to them. When Obama will finish the job with America, the USA wont be the same.
January 10, 2013 at 7:52 PM
I don’t know Luis. The line is being drawn as we speak against Obama’s unconstitutional threats to grab our guns. Most folks have had enough of this bullshit and you will see some serious ‘push back’ in the near future.
January 10, 2013 at 9:35 PM
Hold on Luis the American political system is not like that,the president rubber stamps things congress and the house of Representatives hold the power,they decide in reality and the Republicans have the edge there so i would watch and see what happens
January 10, 2013 at 11:09 PM
All Obama needs to do is sign an executive order into force to ban guns. I have a feeling there will be another school massacre to justify the ban.
January 10, 2013 at 11:18 PM
I read day after day dozens of stories about US law abiding citizens using guns to defend themselves against dangerous rapists, armed home invaders, robbers etc. The people of the US need to fight this ban, because Obama wants you disarmed for a reason.
January 11, 2013 at 8:22 AM
Almog is an amazing man, believe me. Am I wrong about Hagel? – JW
Noxious Nominations: The Four Horsemen of the American Foreign Policy Apocalypse By Barry Rubin\
http://rubinreports.blogspot.co.il/2013/01/noxious-nominations-four-horsemen-of.html
January 11, 2013 at 8:43 AM
A piece by Charles Krauthammer about Hagel:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/01/10/meaning-hagel/