During the confirmation hearing of Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel in the Senate on Thursday, a Republican senator a Defense played tapes showing the former Nebraska Senator interviewed by Al Jazeera television in which he didn’t challenge a caller who accused Israel of war crimes.
He also appeared to agree with the assertion that America is "the world's bully."
The interviews were played by Texas Senator Ted Cruz who confronted controversial Hagel with the tape.
Cruz said: "The caller suggests that the nation of Israel has committed war crimes, and your response to that was not to dispute that characterization." He then asked Hagel directly whether he thinks Israel has committed war crimes.
"No, I do not," Hagel said, while saying he wanted to see the "full context" of the interview.
Cruz called the war-crimes suggestion "particularly offensive given that the Jewish people suffered under the most horrific war crimes in the Holocaust."
"I would also suggest," he continued, "that for ... a prospective Secretary of Defense not to take issue with that claim is highly troubling."
Cruz then played the tape of Hagel being asked about the perception and "reality" that America is the world's bully. Hagel could be heard calling the point a "good one."
Cruz said the answer is "not the conduct one would expect of a secretary of Defense."
The incident was one of several confrontations Thursday as the Senate committee considered Hagel's nominee to succeed Leon Panetta at the helm of the Pentagon.
One Republican lawmaker accused Hagel of "appeasing our adversaries." Another, fellow Vietnam War veteran Sen. John McCain, also had tough questioning for the nominee.
Hagel is among the most controversial of President Obama's second-term Cabinet nominees, due to positions he has taken on Iran and comments he has made about Israel and other topics.
During the hearing, he urged lawmakers not to write him off based on a string of controversial votes and quotes from his career in the Senate.
"Like each of you, I have a record," Hagel he said. « A record that I'm proud of. I'm proud of my record not because of any accomplishments I may have achieved, or certainly because of an absence of mistakes, but rather because I've tried to build that record based on living my life and fulfilling my responsibilities as honestly as I knew how and with hard work."
He continued: "But no one individual vote, no one individual quote, no one individual statement defines me, my beliefs, or my record. My overall worldview has never changed: that America has and must maintain the strongest military in the world; that we must lead in the international community to confront threats and challenges together ... that we must use all our tools of American power to protect our citizens and our interests."
The top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, announced at the start of the hearing that he would be opposing Hagel.
"On many of the security challenges facing U.S. interests around the world, Senator Hagel's record is deeply troubling, and out of the mainstream. Too often it seems he's willing to subscribe to a worldwide view that is predicated on appeasing our adversaries while shunning our friends," he said.
Committee Chairman Carl Levin, a Democrat from Michigan also said Hagel's positions -- including opposition to unilateral sanctions on Iran and criticism of efforts to isolate both Syria and Hamas -- must be "explored at this hearing."
If confirmed, Hagel would be the first enlisted man and first Vietnam veteran to serve as defense secretary.
Hagel has the announced backing of about a dozen Democrats and the tacit support of dozens more who are unlikely to embarrass the president by defeating his Cabinet pick. One Republican -- Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi -- has said he will vote for his former colleague.
Six Republicans, including four members of the Armed Services panel, have said they will oppose Hagel's nomination.
The hearing was the first time Hagel publicly addressed the barrage of criticism that he is not sufficiently pro-Israel or tough enough on Iran. Hagel has also been criticized for his comments about the influence of a "Jewish lobby" and his view of gay rights. Hagel apologized for the "Jewish lobby" comment Thursday.
"I've already said I regret referencing the Jewish lobby, I should have said, 'pro-Israel lobby,'" he said. "The use of 'intimidation' -- I should have used 'influence.' I think that would have been more appropriate. I should not have said 'dumb' or 'stupid,' because I understand or appreciate there are other views on these things."