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Mr. Schumer, Democrat of New York, will be among the first senators to meet with Mr. Hagel since his nomination last week. Mr. Schumer has told aides and other senators that he could be persuaded to support Mr. Hagel depending on the meeting's outcome. Mr. Hagel's nomination has been met with suspicion, and even outright hostility, among Republicans and Democrats who are strongly aligned with Jewish groups.

Mr. Schumer plans to ask Mr. Hagel to clarify and in some ways recant statements about Iran and Israel, according to a person with knowledge of the senator's plans for the meeting. Mr. Schumer also intends to press Mr. Hagel about conservative views he has expressed on gay rights and abortion. Other Democrats are likely to take their cues about the nomination from Mr. Schumer, who is the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate and has strong ties to pro-Israel groups.

Of deepest concern to Mr. Schumer, reflecting the anxiety of many Israel advocacy groups, are Mr. Hagel's positions on the nuclear threat posed by Iran, according to the person with knowledge of the senator's plans. Mr. Hagel has said a military strike against Iran would be counterproductive.

But Mr. Hagel got a resounding vote of support on Sunday from a fellow Republican moderate, Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state, who said on the NBC News program "Meet the Press" that Mr. Hagel was "superbly qualified."

"First, I think he's had a very, very distinguished public service record that he can stand on," Mr. Powell said. "There are a lot of comments about different things he said over the years, and I think he'll have a chance to respond to all those comments at the confirmation hearings."

Another Republican, Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, said on the ABC News program "This Week" that he had questions about Mr. Hagel's "overall temperament."

Mr. Schumer is also suspicious of comments by Mr. Hagel that seem to support a strategy of containment, in which the United States would accept Iran's development of a nuclear weapon while seeking to prevent a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

Mr. Hagel might need to fully reject that strategy in order to bring his position in line with President Obama's and Mr. Schumer's. During his race against Mitt Romney last year, Mr. Obama took a more forceful position against Iran.

As a senator from Nebraska, Mr. Hagel voted against several rounds of sanctions against Iran that ultimately passed the Senate. Mr. Hagel has said unilateral sanctions are ineffective, a position that is out of step with the Obama administration's thinking. But in recent weeks, Mr. Hagel has sounded more hawkish about Iran in meetings with administration officials.

Mr. Hagel's views on the militant Islamist groups Hezbollah and Hamas have also become issues. He was among only a handful of senators who declined to sign a letter to the European Union calling for the designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

Mr. Hagel has since said he does not believe in sending letters to foreign governments. He has also supported direct negotiations between the United States and Hamas, which governs Gaza.

Mr. Schumer will seek reassurances that Mr. Hagel now considers Hezbollah and Hamas to be terrorist groups, the person familiar with his plans said.

Mr. Schumer is also expected to ask Mr. Hagel about his disparaging statements about gay people — remarks he has since apologized for — and his views on abortion, particularly his opposition to allowing abortions for women in the military who have been raped, a position that has upset some Democratic women in the Senate.

Although Mr. Schumer said Mr. Obama should have discretion over appointments to his cabinet, people close to the senator said his concerns would need to be put to rest before he would support Mr. Hagel's nomination.

Jewish groups that have met with Mr. Schumer have expressed reservations about openly opposing Mr. Hagel's nomination for fear of inflaming their tensions with the Obama administration and deepening difficulties between the United States and Israel. Further, it would be a major break with the Obama administration for Mr. Schumer to oppose him.

On Sunday, Mr. Hagel continued to draw criticism from conservatives who share Mr. Schumer's worries about Israel and Iran and have lingering concerns about Mr. Hagel's criticisms of the Bush administration's execution of the Iraq war.

Senator John McCain of Arizona said on "Face the Nation" that Mr. Hagel's early opposition to the troop surge in Iraq was "bizarre." Mr. McCain is the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, which will conduct Mr. Hagel's confirmation hearing.