Chuck Hagel

Yousef Munayyer: This is how an article in yesterday’s Washington Post, entitled, Chuck Hagel visits Israel, gets geography lesson, began. Hagel, the newly appointed U.S. Secretary of Defense, was taken on a helicopter tour by his Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. The helicopter of course, like so much Israeli military equipment, was U.S. made. But what kind of tour would Hagel really get from the Israeli military? I doubt they would take the time to point out the locations of all the Palestinian villages they depopulated—that would be a real geography lesson.

Yousef Munayyer: Yesterday President Obama nominated the former Republican senator from Nebraska, Chuck Hagel, to be his next Secretary of Defense. Rumors of Hagel’s nomination starting last year triggered a debate that is likely to continue into and through the nominee’s confirmation process. However, this debate really tells us more important things about America, and our role in the Middle East, than it does about Chuck Hagel.