You Don’t Know Chuck

As he’s been considered for secretary of defense, one of the most persistent criticisms leveled at Chuck Hagel has been that he has been too critical of Israel. His critiques of Israel pale in comparison to those made by Avraham Shalom, Yaakov Peri, Carmi Gillon, and Avi Dichter, former heads of the Israeli intelligence service Shin Bet, interviewed in the new documentary The Gatekeepers. Both Hagel and the former directors of the Shin Bet have voiced some tough love on the subject of Israel’s relationship with the Palestinians and broader Arab world. We’ve picked some quotes from each. Can you guess who said it, Chuck Hagel or a former head of the Shin Bet?

1.   "I know about plenty of junctures since 1967 when in my view…we should have reached an agreement and ran away from [Palestine]."

Answer 1: Yaakov Peri, Shin Bet director, 1988-1994

2.       "Each side [the Israelis and the Palestinians] has a legitimate point here."

Answer 2: Chuck Hagel

3.   "You can’t make peace using military means."

Answer 3: Avi Dichter, Shin Bet director, 2000-2005

4.   "What we need isn’t a cease-fire, leading to a sequential peace process, leading to negotiations on a Palestinian state, leading to negotiations on refugees, Jerusalem, etc. That time has passed. An end game must be brought to the front, now."

Answer 4: Chuck Hagel

5.       "Desperate men do desperate things when you take hope away. And that’s where the Palestinians are today."

Answer 5: Chuck Hagel

6.       "When you retire, you become a bit of a leftist."

Answer 6: Yaakov Peri, Shin Bet director, 1988-1995

7.       The IDF is a "brutal occupation force, similar to the Germans in World War II."

Answer 7: Avraham Shalom, Shin Bet director, 1980-1986

8.       "To arbitrarily make decisions as the Netanyahu government has done is not helpful."

Answer 8: Chuck Hagel

9.       "The message is that occupation is bad for the future of Israeli society from all aspects — humanistic, economic, moral, etc."

Answer 9: Carmi Gillon, Shin Bet director, 1994-1996

10.   "I think you have to make peace with whoever you have to make peace with….Peace is always better than war."

Answer 10: Chuck Hagel

11.   "Peace comes through dealing with people. Peace doesn’t come at the end of a bayonet or the end of a gun."

Answer 11: Chuck Hagel

12.       "As soon as [Israel] stopped dealing with the Palestinian state and started dealing with terrorism, terror became more sophisticated….so we forgot about the Palestinian issue."

Answer 12: Avraham Shalom, Shin Bet director, 1980-1986

How’d you do?