The right man for the job
Pete Hegseth, who has dedicated his life to America, is a strong supporter of Israel.
By Joseph Frager
JNS
Dec 9, 2024
I have had the honor and pleasure of knowing President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, for the past 10 years. He is a brilliant war veteran with two bronze medals. I could not think of a more suitable candidate to run the Pentagon. He can inject energy, vitality and a battlefield-tested experience into the massive bureaucracy. As he said during a recent interview with broadcaster talk-show host Megyn Kelly, “Let’s bring the Pentagon back to the people.”
I met Hegseth at a conference on EMP, electromagnetic pulse technology. He was not yet working for Fox News. We were all concerned that the enemies of America, especially Iran would use an EMP attack on the United States to knock out the electrical grid. Such an attack would lead to utter devastation as anything needing power would cease to operate. The conference’s goal was to “harden” the grid, which I am sure Hegseth will make one of his priorities as secretary of defense.
I accompanied Hegseth to Israel several times, and he has become one of Israel’s greatest friends. I have watched him for days and weeks at a time; he has always been an upstanding, deeply caring person. There was never any impropriety. I believe that the allegations against him are baseless, without merit and utterly ridiculous. He is one of America’s greatest sons, and as he says, “It is the classic art of the smear.”
During a visit to Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs in 2016, Hegseth told me: “Before coming to Hebron, I didn’t truly understand the depth of the situation. Biblically, I understood the basic sense, but when you see it in front of you, you realize the significance. You go there and realize the ongoing contention [of] where Jews can go and they can’t. You realize it’s a massive city surrounding the holy site of Judaism. This is the root of Judaism, and I commend the community that maintains the heritage here.”
He is a man of deep faith and humility and recognizes the plight of the Jewish people.
At a dinner in his honor in Jerusalem, he said, “I come here as an individual veteran, an American invested in the future of the free world, our country, and Israel. Israel is indispensable for the future of the West and human freedom. Any erosion of that alliance with the United States undercuts the bedrock of principles we were founded on.”
In my opinion, no one has said it better.
Two years later, in February 2018, Hegseth and I returned to Israel together. This time, we went to the Golan Heights and saw the terror tunnels along the Gaza border and the Iron Dome batteries. He did a Fox News special on the Golan Heights, which I believe was a factor in Trump’s recognition of Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights on March 25, 2019. Hegseth drew connections between the struggles Israel faces and those America deals with in a speech he gave at another event in Israel. He borrowed from his book, “In the Arena,” quoting President Teddy Roosevelt, saying, “Great republics are not about good leaders but good citizens, willingness to work, fight, and have large healthy families for demographics. We need faith and character and must believe in something bigger than yourself.”
Hegseth has not had a sheltered life. He is a fighter to the core. He attended Princeton and Harvard universities, and could have taken the easy route. Instead, he has devoted his every breath to helping America. Trump chose wisely when he picked him. Given the opportunity, I am sure Hegseth will go down in history as a great secretary of defense.
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