New York – Senator Schumer Defends Decision To Support Hagel On JM In The AM Radio Show

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    Senator Schumer Defends His Decision To Support Hagel On JM In The AM Radio Show Jan. 18 2013New York – In a fairly lengthy radio interview this morning on JM in the AM with host Nachum Segal, United States Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York) was asked to defend his swift endorsement of the nomination of former Nebraska Republican Senator Chuck Hagel for the Secretary of Defense post.

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    Asked by Mr. Segal if he sympathizes with and understands why so many people in the pro-Israel community are angry about the president’s nomination of Hagel, Schumer responded, “As is clear, I had my doubts about Chuck Hagel and in fact, made them public on the Meet the Press show – it got all over the press that Schumer, you know, was throwing some cold water on this nomination and that was before he was nominated.”

    But Schumer said his concerns were allayed after meeting with Hagel. “The president asked me to meet with him before I made any decisions and that was only fair because I had lots of concerns, but everyone has based on his statements – almost all of which are basically in the 2005, 2007, time. I sat down with him for 90 minutes and I asked him many, many probing questions. I asked him point blank these questions about Iran, about Israel and the Palestinians, about Hezbollah, about Hamas – all the things that I’ve spent my life standing for and fighting for and his answers were not pat, were not check the box.”

    Listen to the interview below:

    Schumer also said he felt confident that Hagel was sincere in his responses and that he genuinely believes Hagel has changed his earlier positions.

    “You know, Nachum,” Schumer said. “I’ve been around in politics 37 years and I’ve been fooled on occasion, but not too often. I think I have a pretty good as they call it BS detector and he was sincere. He basically said, ‘Look, the bottom line is the world has changed since 2005, 6 and 7. Iran is far more dangerous and far more militant than it was then’ – everyone would agree with that. George Bush wasn’t shutting down Iran in 2005, 6 and 7.”

    Hagel allegedly also told Schumer that Hamas and Hezbollah are now closer to Iran and more militant and worse than they previously were. Recounting his conversation with Hagel, Schumer said, “He said not only should the military option lay on the table in terms of Iran – he said these point blank – and I said what if there is no choice but a military option or a nuclear Iran? – that the sanctions fail. We all hope they’ll succeed, but they could well fail. And he said, then we have no choice but to take action.”

    Segal then interjected and said the Jewish community is concerned about the speed with which Schumer endorsed Hagel’s nomination. Segal asked Schumer what he will do if something untoward is revealed during the nomination hearing which raises a red flag. Schumer said he was not overly concerned about such a possibility because Hagel is going to be asked to respond to the very same questions during the hearing as he did in his meeting with Schumer. The senator said he warned Hagel that was making his answers public so he could not change his responses later, and Hagel assured Schumer that he planned to “answer the questions in the very same exact way.” Schumer said that while Hagel “satisfied my concerns, I’ll be watching him like an eagle. I will be on top of not just him but the administration as I’ve been before.”

    Schumer went on to defend his own record of standing up for Israel, saying, “I believe whether the president is a Democrat or Republican, you give them the benefit of the doubt of the choice. But when I disagree with them [the administration], I make it public. I think I’m basically the only major Jewish official or any official who has disputed their view of Israel and Palestine. In other words, whatever you think of settlements, whatever you think of borders, the reason there’s no peace is ‘cause the Palestinians don’t want to recognize the Jewish state.”

    Schumer concluded the interview by adding that he believes he “made the right choice” in supporting Hagel’s nomination even though he knew he would “get flak” from the Jewish community. “Frankly, to your audience, the easy choice in a certain sense was to just say no because I know how people feel. I’m around in the community. I thought for the future of Israel, even with the doubts I had before and the earlier statements which are painful to me that Hagel made, that given that I truly believe he has changed and the need for close cooperation, this was the right decision.”


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    18 Comments
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    11 years ago

    Segal asked reasonable quetions and Shumer did a great job of resolving any lingering uncertainty. Hagel now has more than than the 60 votes he will need for confirmation among Senators listed as supportive or leaning towards supporting him (contingent as they all say on his responses to questions during the hearings in 2 weeks).
    He will be confirmed….time to move on.

    Grumpy
    Grumpy
    11 years ago

    Amazing … Hagel thinks Iran is far more dangerous and militant now than they were in 2007? Seriously?

    By “have a pretty good … BS detector.,” Schumer must have meant he hopes we don’t have one at all.

    11 years ago

    Hamas and Hezbollah have always been enemies of Israel, even back in 2005-07. Nothing has changed, including Chuck Hagle. Chuck Schumer just wants to please Obama.

    yaakov doe
    Member
    yaakov doe
    11 years ago

    I don’t think Schumer is in a position where he has to please anyone. He is guaranteed re election for years to come unless he comitts a serious crime. I assume that he’s sincere in his endorsement even though I don’t understand his reasons.

    mit-seichel
    mit-seichel
    11 years ago

    The main point is that Hagel can say whatever he wants now, but do whatever he wants once Secretary of Defense. He’ll never again have to face voters or a confirmation hearing. He doesn’t have to answer for any any bad policy, and, of course, he can always blame someone else in the administration for it or say that “circumstances changed (again).” To think that anti-Israel people around the world are cheering Hagel’s nomination because he’s really a pro-Israel, anti-Iran hawk now is laughable.

    Schumer’s reassurances remind of Ed Koch running around for years saying Obama is really pro-Israel now and then saying “I always knew he’ll turn against Israel.”

    BrooklynLawyer
    BrooklynLawyer
    11 years ago

    An example of a party elder taking his political party over his voters and donors.

    Tzi_Bar_David
    Tzi_Bar_David
    11 years ago

    #3 has it. Obama says “jump, ” Shumer’s only thought is “how high?” I assure you if a Republican President had put forward the same nominee, Shumer would be organizing the protests for outside the White House.

    11 years ago

    All the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish comments were made by Chuck Hagel PUBLICLY.
    Chuck Schumer claims Hagel retracted these same comments in a PRIVATE conversation recently and now Schumer is reassured.
    No, Senator Schumer ! Senator Hagel must retract his previous statements PUBLICLY before he can even possibly be considered to have repented.

    savtat
    savtat
    11 years ago

    If Hagel is the next Secy of Defense, we want a Jewish senator to be able to have a dialog with him.

    dooalldel
    dooalldel
    11 years ago

    Chucky is a farshtinkene liberal, he knows the truth just want to lek Obama’s Mechileh ,

    Granny
    Granny
    11 years ago

    I guess next we can expect to hear that Schumer is comfortable that Morsi’s anti-Semitic comments were taken out of context.

    Duvid18
    Duvid18
    11 years ago

    . “The president asked me to meet with him before I made any decisions and that was only fair because I had lots of concerns”
    Asked? no no no, that is not how Lord Voldemort operates, that is not how it is done in Chicago. Chuck was intimidated, threatened or bribed!

    victorg
    victorg
    11 years ago

    Schumer had absolutely no choice, as a senior democrat Senator he cannot go against Obama without compromising his political career and clout in the democrat party. So he was forced to sell out.

    11 years ago

    Chuck Schumer has once again proven that he is the best politician that money can buy.

    Smokey
    Smokey
    11 years ago

    Not to worry. Chuck Schumer would not have given his consent to Chuck Hagel becoming secretary of defense if he had not first obtained Al Sharpton’s approval;.

    11 years ago

    A list of Senator Chuck Schumer’s loyalties in order of importance:
    (1) Democratic Party
    (2) United States of America
    (3) Judaism
    (4) Israel
    He should be ashamed of himself because of his perverted priorities.