Hagel: Israel and US see 'exactly the same' threat from Iran

On a trip to Israel, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said the US and Israel view the threat from Iran the same way, but differ on the point at which military action would be necessary.

By Robert Burns,?AP National Security Writer / April 21, 2013

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel as he testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Pentagon's budget for fiscal 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday. Hagel is currently on a trip to Israel, where he outlined the similarities and differences between Israel's and the US's attitudes toward Iran.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

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US Defense Secretary?Chuck?Hagel?said Sunday the United States and Israel see "exactly the same" threat from Iran, but differ on when it may reach the point of requiring US or Israeli military action.

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Hagel?used his first visit to Israel as Pentagon chief to highlight his view that Israel must decide for itself whether and when to pre-emptively attack its neighbor.

"Israel will make the decision that Israel must make to protect itself, to defend itself,"?Hagel?told reporters before arriving here on Sunday to begin a weeklong tour of the Middle East.

Hagel?acknowledged that while Israel and the US share a commitment to ensuring that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon, there "may well be some differences" between the two allies on the question of when Iran's leaders might decide to go for a bomb.

He said there is "no daylight at all" between Israel and the US on the central goal of preventing a nuclear-armed Iran.

But he added, "When you back down into the specifics of the timing of when and if Iran decides to pursue a nuclear weapon, there may well be some differences."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tends to see more urgency, reflecting in part the fact that certain Iranian technological advances toward a nuclear weapon could put the program beyond the ability of the Israeli military to destroy it with airstrikes. US forces have greater reach.

The first thing?Hagel?did upon arrival in Jerusalem was take a guided tour of the Yad Vashem Holocaust history museum, participate in a ceremony at the Hall of Remembrance and write an inscription in the guest book at a memorial for the 1.5 million Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust.

"There is no more poignant, more touching, more effective way to tell the story than this reality, as painful as it is, but it is a reality," he said after completing his visit. "It did happen, and we must prepare our future generations ... for a clear understanding that we must never allow this to happen again."

In an interview on an overnight flight from Washington,?Hagel?repeatedly emphasized Israel's right of self-defense and stressed that military force ? by implication, Israeli or American ? remains an option of last resort.

"In dealing with Iran, every option must be on the table," he said.

Hagel, 66, came under intense fire from Republican critics, prior to his February Senate confirmation hearing, for some of his past statements on Israel. His critics painted him as insufficiently supportive of the Jewish state.

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