Published on December 21st, 2012 | by Marsha B. Cohen
http://www.lobelog.com/chuck-hagel-and-the-ghost-of-aipac-past/

Chuck Hagel and the Ghost of AIPAC Past

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AIPAC comes knocking with a pro-Israel letter, and ‘then you’ll get 80 to 90 senators on it. I don’t think I’ve ever signed one of the letters.’

When someone would accuse him of not being pro-Israel because he didn’t sign the letter, Hagel told me he responds: “‘I didn’t sign the letter because it was a stupid letter.” Few legislators talk this way on the Hill. Hagel is a strong supporter of Israel and a believer in shared values. “The Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here,” but as he put it, “I’m a United States senator. I’m not an Israeli senator.”

–Chuck Hagel to Aaron David Miller, The Much Too Promised Land