27 April 2007
United States senator Chuck Hagel has told an Arab-American forum that his support for Israel is ‘not automatic’. Hagel, a Republican senator from Nebraska who is considering a run for the presidency, told the Arab American Institute's annual dinner that he believed Israel and the United States had a "special relationship." However, he resented being told by a pro-Israel activist that if he wanted backing from the pro-Israel community, his support for Israel should be automatic. Hagel said: "First, I am an American senator.” He added that he would not sacrifice his friendships in the Arab world to please pro-Israel groups. "No relationship should be founded on holding hostage other relationships," Hagel said. "Why can't I have that relationship" with Israel and its allies "not at the expense of my friends in the Arab world, in the Muslim world? Why must it be a choice? It is not a choice."
