Elizabeth Berney has expressed her reaction to the possibility that America’s least favorite president may appoint Sen. Charles Hagel to the vital post of secretary of defense.
Ms. Berney is quite right in her opinion. I don’t think Hagel is the right person for this position.
As secretary of defense I doubt that he could defend himself against a bagel attack smeared in cream cheese and lox.
An individual who enters such an important position with well-known prejudices, a priori, will not only bring disgrace to the office but resentment among our many friendly allies, Israel being one of them. President Obama’s administration has treated the State of Israel well, thanks to Israel’s many friends in the U.S. Congress.
But the president himself is not a friend of Israel. His animosity has been shown several times, particularly in his disgraceful treatment of our prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who he abandoned to cool his heels in the White House while he joined his family for dinner.
Such treatment of a prime minister in the White House is unheard of. We Israelis cannot respect such mistreatment from any foreign leader to the elected head of our government.
Sen. Hagel makes no bones about it. He does not like Israel and opposes the Netanyahu cabinet and the decisions it rightfully makes for the defense of a sovereign nation.
Surely the American president could take some time off from his golfing to search for a more perfect candidate for the position of secretary of defense. Hagel is definitely not that person.
Dr. Esor Ben-Sorek
Great Neck
