1. Chuck Hagel is anti-Israel.
In 2006, I interviewed then-Sen. Hagel for a book I was writing on U.S. policy toward the Arab-Israeli negotiations. Quotes from that interview, such as his comment that "the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here," have been used by his detractors to argue that he is hostile toward Israel.
By congressional standards, Hagel is quite independent on Israel. He believes in a special U.S.-Israel relationship but not one in which the United States accepts Israeli actions uncritically.