What lies behind Obama's charismatic smile? asks Anayat Durrani Just two days after his historic win as the next commander-in- chief, President-elect Barack Obama raised eyebrows with his appointment of pro-Israeli Congressman Rahm Israel Emanuel as his new chief of staff. Obama's promise to bring "change" to the White House has some wondering exactly what kind of "change" the Emanuel appointment will bring, particularly to the Middle East. "I announce this appointment first because the chief of staff is central to the ability of a president and administration to accomplish an agenda," Obama said in a statement. "No one I know is better at getting things done than Rahm Emanuel." Known as an attack dog and for his political fundraising abilities Emanuel operates in a vastly different style than that of Obama. With his penchant for profanity, Emanuel represents a tough no holds barred approach in contrast to the calm and cool Obama. Emanuel, born in Chicago, is an Illinois congressman with strong ties to his local Jewish community and the Jewish state. Emanuel was born with dual American-Israeli nationality and served for a short time as a civilian volunteer in the Israeli Defence Forces during the first Gulf War in 1991. Emanuel has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 2003. Emanuel was seen as a key player in the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives in 2006. In 2007, he was elected to serve as the Democratic Caucus Chair, the fourth highest-ranking member of the House Democratic Leadership. As a political and policy aide, Emanuel served seven years in the White House during the Clinton administration and was an aide to Clinton, helping to promote the newly launched Oslo process. His combative style under the Clinton administration earned him the nickname "Rahm-bo". Then first lady Hillary Clinton tried to get him fired as a White House aide in 1993 because of his abrasive style. He was instead demoted to the press office. House Republicans are said to dislike Emanuel for his partisanship. House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio called Emanuel "an ironic choice for a president-elect who has promised to change Washington, make politics more civil, and govern from the centre." Emanuel is a close friend of Obama and David Axelrod, the chief Democratic strategist who helped catapult Obama from the Senate to the White House. Obama chose Emanuel to escort him to his meeting with the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC back in June, when Obama declared his full support to Israel and went further by adopting Israeli policy that views Jerusalem as the "undivided capital" of the Jewish state. Emanuel is known on Capital Hill as one of the strongest advocates for Israel. Most troubling about Obama's appointment is that Emanuel's father, Benjamin, was a member of the Zionist terrorist organisation, Irgun Zvai Leumi. Benjamin, who was born in Jerusalem and now an Illinois resident, told Haaretz that his son was named after "Rahamim", who was a fallen member of the Lohamei Herut Israel, also known as the Stern Gang. The Stern Gang is notorious for its murderous rampage against indigenous Palestinians, and carried out the political assassinations of the Swedish UN mediator Count Folke Bernadotte and British diplomat Lord Moyne. Palestinians had hoped Obama's background, his African roots, would bring a more sympathetic approach to the plight of the Palestinians. But with the appointment of Rahm, the initial excitement and hope that an Obama presidency might bring has since withered. Whether Obama proves to be a true broker of peace in the Middle East remains to be seen. Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, told Fox News that Obama's appointment of Emanuel is "just another indication that despite the attempts to imply that Obama would somehow appoint the wrong person or listen to the wrong people when it comes to the US-Israel relationship -- that was never true." More disappointments in Obama's line-up include veepee Joe Biden, a champion for the attack on Iraq, likely secretary of defence Richard Holbrooke, architect of the war against Yugoslavia, economic advisers neoliberal champion Paul Volcker and his Clinton-era pal Robert Rubin, who was responsible for the deregulation of the banking sector. In short, a recycling of the characters who are behind the present political and economic nightmare which Obama so eloquently claims to want to change. Emanuel's father Benjamin was quoted in an article about Rahm headlined "Our man in the White House" in the Israeli daily Maariv last week, saying, "Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn't he? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to clean the floors of the White House." The subtext of Benjamin's remark is that under a black president, only an Arab, certainly not a Jew, is fit to take on one of the traditional roles of blacks. The Jew, in this case Emanuel, will be one of his closest advisers. Rahm's brother, Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel, spearheaded the campaign to blacklist Mel Gibson after comments the actor made when he was arrested under suspicion of drunken driving in 2006. Ari was the inspiration for the Hollywood agent character Ari Gold on the popular HBO series Entourage. For his part, Rahm inspired the television character Josh Lyman on T he West Wing. So, with Rahm-bo in the White House, the Emanuels have come full circle, with reality imitating art imitating reality. In the words of Hollywood legend Bette Davis, "It's going to be a wild and bumpy ride."
