Obama's White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Israel Emanuel, Served in the Israeli Army

Illinois House Representative accepts nomination as Obama's chief of staff

2008-11-07 06:19:11

·Emanuel has accepted the nomination as the next White House chief of staff. ·Emanuel has a prospect to be the House Speaker. ·Emanuel's nomination, as U.S. media said, showed a shift in tone for Obama.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) --

Rahm Emanuel, a House Representative from Illinois, has accepted the nomination as the next White House chief of staff, said President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday.

"I announce this appointment first because the Chief of Staff is central to the ability of a President and Administration to accomplish an agenda," said Obama in Chicago. "And no one I know is better at getting things done than Rahm Emanuel."

The selection of Emanuel was the first decision Obama made after he won the presidential elections on Tuesday by a large margin over Republican candidate John McCain.

The 48-year-old Congressman is currently the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House and has a prospect to be the House Speaker. Prior to it, he was a key figure in the former President Bill Clinton's administration as a senior advisor and chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the 2006 mid-term elections.

Emanuel was known for his strong style and fundraising capabilities, different from those who led Obama's campaign, and his nomination, as U.S. media said, showed a shift in tone for Obama.

Analysts said that Obama assigned the key position to the influential Democrat in Congress to push forward with all legislatures on the Democratic Party's agenda.

As the chief of staff, a top White House appointee, Emanuel is expected to be in the closest circle around the president. Apart from proposing policies, he has authority to decide anyone having access to the president.

In an earlier TV interview on Wednesday, Emanuel said that he felt honored to be selected for the position, but he still had concerns on its impact on his family life.

"I have a lot to weigh: the basis of public service, which I've given my life to, a career choice. And most importantly, what I want to do as a parent."

The first challenge for the president-elect is to form his cabinet before he is sworn in to the White House. Beside Emanuel, Robert Gibbs, Obama's longtime spokesman, is said to be also among those who are being lined up for Obama's administration.

Obama earlier said that he would recruit Republicans in his cabinet but did not disclose any details.

However, media and political analysts speculated that the current secretary of defense, Robert Gates, and the secretary of finance, Henry Paulson, could retain their positions after Jan. 20.

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Rahm Israel Emanuel

Rahm Emanuel (Hebrew: רם עמנואל‎) was born in Chicago, Illinois.^[7] His first name, Rahm, means "high" or "lofty" in Hebrew^[8], while his last name, Emanuel, means "God is with us." His father, the Jerusalem-born Benjamin M. Emanuel, is a pediatrician and former member of the Irgun^[9]^[10], a militant Zionist group active in the British Mandate of Palestine between 1931 and 1948. His mother, Martha Smulevitz, worked as an X-ray technician and was the daughter of a local union organizer.^[6] She became a civil rights activist; she was also once the owner of a Chicago-area rock and roll club.^[9] The two met in Chicago in the 1950s.^[11] Emanuel's older brother, Ezekiel, is an oncologist and bioethicist, and his brother Ari is a talent agent in Los Angeles who inspired Jeremy Piven's character Ari Gold on the HBO series Entourage.^[6] Emanuel himself is the inspiration for the character Josh Lyman on The West Wing.^[6] He also has a younger sister named Shoshanna, 14 years his junior.^[6]

When his family lived in Chicago, he attended Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, a Jewish day school. After his family moved to Wilmette, he attended public school: Romona School, Wilmette Junior High School, and New Trier West High School.^[11]^[12] He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1981, and went on to receive a master's degree in Speech and Communication from Northwestern University in 1985. While still an undergraduate, he joined the congressional campaign of David Robinson of Chicago.^[13]

His father, still practicing near Chicago, emigrated to the United States from Israel. Emanuel was a civilian volunteer in the Israel Defense Forces during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, serving in one of Israel's northern bases, rust-proofing brakes.^[14]^[15]

Emanuel's wife, Amy Rule, a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, converted to Modern Orthodox Judaism shortly before her wedding.^[14] They are members of Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel, a modern Orthodox congregation in Chicago.^[16] They have three children, son Zacharias and daughters Ilana and Leah.

Emanuel is a long time close friend of fellow-Chicagoan David Axelrod, Chief Strategist for the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign. Axelrod signed the ketubah at Emanuel's wedding, an honor that goes to a best friend.^[17]

Rabbi Asher Lopatin of Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation is quoted as saying: "It's a very involved Jewish family"; "Amy was one of the teachers for a class for children during the High Holidays two years ago."^[16] Emanuel has said of his Judaism: "I am proud of my heritage and treasure the values it has taught me."^[16] Emanuel's family lives on the North Side of Chicago, in the North Center neighborhood.^[8]

Emanuel trains for and participates in triathlons.^[12]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahm_Emanuel

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Obama "Change" set to disappoint many

http://www.pr-inside.com/obama-change-delivers-israel-r898400.htm

Obama "Change" delivers Israel

2008-11-06 06:00:30 -

A record number of voters turned out for both candidates of United States presidential nomination of 2008. The USA voted its first black president contrary to many expectations and hoped for "change".

Few hours after finally being elected as the 44th president of the United States, the long awaited and gruelling pregnancy of Obama's campaign with the slogan "Change" is set to introduce to the American public old hard line AIPAC members including the lobbyists Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff.

Rahm Emanuel is a member of the United States House of Representatives, a stubborn pushy fundraiser well acclaimed for his loyalty to the state of Israel. His father Benjamin Emanuel, an American was an active member of the Jewish terror group called Irgun that operated in Palestine between 1931 and 1948. The group often attacked Palestinian civilians and British bases in Palestine after adopting to violently force all non-Jews from Palestine in their determination to build a Jewish only state.

Rahm Emanuel is amongst few from AIPAC, the Jewish lobby group who worked with Obama despite suspicions raised from the Jewish community inclined to hate everything reminding them of Muslims. However, Obama spokeswoman requested Israeli media not to jump the gun as decisions are not ideally made within a week of presidential ascendancy.

Jewish newspapers were already counting Israeli passport holders

included within Obama's "new" administration few hours after the record breaking voter turnout. The USA is one of many nations who accept dual nationality, although many arguments cloud over this issue for people holding a public office or working with securities crucial to protecting the public safety. Amongst those mentioned included John Kerry quoted to be seeking an opportunity to join the new administration as foreign policy adviser.

Of course this maybe what the Israelis expect, as many countries have their own interests at stake especially Israel who enjoys skewed allocation of financial and military assistance from American tax payers that breed resentment and frustrations in the Palestinian ghettos and neighbouring Arab states. Figures from the United Nations show that four out of five children in the Palestinian ghettos suffer from acute nutritional deficiencies owing to the dire circumstances they found themselves in. From this evidence, children in war torn Somalia are much healthier than those under the apparatus of the Jewish state.

At a time when the United States is facing challenges by resurgent and more assertive Russia and domestic economic recession, America's weaning influence in world stage could suddenly crumble if needless preoccupation with Israel centric policies are continued to be implemented. Russia's new president is already set to test Obama administration with the latest move to place missiles in the Baltic sea to counter America's plans to base defence facilities in Poland and Czech Republic.http://www.pr-inside.com/obama-change-delivers-israel-r898400.htm

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