By Jamal Kanj

The Zionist lobby is flexing its muscle against Barack Obama’s potential nominee for secretary of defence.

The frontrunner, Chuck Hagel, is co-chairman of the president’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.

Hagel was a Republican senator representing Nebraska from 1996 until his retirement in 2008. He was one of few senators who crossed party lines on issues most important to the American people.

Despite his Republican credentials and the fact that he is being considered by a Democratic president, Israel firsters from both parties are united in their effort to pre-empt Hagel’s nomination – not because he is ill-equipped for the position of defence secretary, but for not being adequately submissive to the Zionist lobby while in the Senate.

Putting Israel above the USA

When asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” programme last week if he would support the president’s apparent nominee, a leading Israeli firster, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, responded: “I’d have to study his record.”

Schumer’s response to a nominee by a president from his own party is uncharacteristic of American politics.

Appearing on the same news programme, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham warned that the presumed president’s pick will have tough questioning from his fellow Republicans regarding “his position towards Israel”.

Ironically, American patriots are shoved aside by the Zionist lobby’s “thought police” while individuals with dual Israeli citizenship, ex-Israeli soldiers or even suspected spies are appointed unchallenged to the highest offices in US administrations.

The Republican Jewish Coalition declared that Hagel’s nomination would “be a slap in the face of every American who is concerned about the safety of Israel”.

A Democratic member of the House of Representatives, Elliot Engel, said on C-Span that Hagel’s “endemic hostility towards Israel” is “troublesome for me and for a lot of other people”.

Another pro-Israel advocate in Washington was quoted by the online Daily Beast on 28 December 2012 as saying: “The pro-Israel community will view the nomination of Senator Chuck Hagel in an extremely negative light. His record is unique in its animus towards Israel.”

The power of “Jewish” money

The power of the Zionist lobby is the best kept secret among American elected officials.

I worked with an ex-congressman who at the time was retained as a lobbyist for an organization I worked for in San Diego. He had a near perfect pro-Israel voting score during his service in Congress.

He once confided to me that his and many of his colleagues’ votes on issues pertaining to the Middle East were influenced first and foremost by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Jewish financiers.

He also said that said while he was sympathetic to the Palestinians, he remembered those (he named a few) who were ousted when “Jewish” money started pouring into their opponents’ coffer during election.

In fact, I remember attending a meeting with another congressman in late 1980s who spoke off the record of his disgust with the power of the Zionist lobby.

He voiced his admiration for House of Representatives member James Traficant who distinguished himself by standing up to the Zionist lobby. He was elected nine times before resigning to serve a jail sentence following a court conviction.

Patriotism no longer sufficient

Back to Hagel, on 24 December President Obama described his choice as someone who “is a patriot”.

“He is somebody who has done extraordinary work both in the US Senate, somebody who served this country with valour in Vietnam,” he said.

Hagel served as an infantry squad leader and was a recipient of the Cross of Gallantry, two Purple Hearts, an Army Commendation Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge during his service in Vietnam.

As with the Iron Curtain countries of old, the Zionist lobby is the new Big Brother’s “thought police”, inhibiting open debate on a US foreign policy that is inconsistent with the principles of the American constitution.

Ironically, American patriots are shoved aside by the Zionist lobby’s “thought police” while individuals with dual Israeli citizenship, ex-Israeli soldiers or even suspected spies are appointed unchallenged to the highest offices in US administrations.

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A version of this article was first published in the Gulf Daily News. The version here is published by permission of Jamal Kanj.