Saturday
Nov082008
Obama, His Chief of Staff, and the Middle East (Part 2)
Saturday, November 8, 2008 at 20:48
The item on Barack Obama's selection of Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff has sparked a good deal of discussion. Some readers have noted the welcoming of Emanuel's appointment by Israeli media, in particular the headline in Ma'ariv "Our Man in the White House".
I cannot find an English translation of the Ma'ariv story, but a reader has pointed me to the summary in Al Jazeera magazine. While noting from the outset that Al Jazeera is likely to have a far different perspective from most of the Israeli media, it does offer some interesting quotes. The most striking comes from Emanuel's father in Ma'ariv, 'Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn't he be? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to clean the floors of the White House.'
I'm still not convinced that Emanuel's appointment is that significant for the Obama Administration's Middle East policy. Few Presidents have taken foreign policy advice from their Chiefs of Staff, and I don't sense that Obama is going to prefer Emanuel to, say, the Secretary of State or National Security Advisor.
It's striking, though, how much play this story is getting in the Middle Eastern press (though, interestingly, the English-language Jerusalem Post was much more muted, merely recycling the quotes from Ma'ariv) and how non-existent the Israel-Palestine angle is in the US and British media's coverage of Emanuel's appointment One has to wonder if the Obama team realise that the issue is so charged that a tangential appointment causes consternation throughout Middle Eastern communities and, consequently, how expectations --- positive and negative --- are already being formed.
I cannot find an English translation of the Ma'ariv story, but a reader has pointed me to the summary in Al Jazeera magazine. While noting from the outset that Al Jazeera is likely to have a far different perspective from most of the Israeli media, it does offer some interesting quotes. The most striking comes from Emanuel's father in Ma'ariv, 'Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn't he be? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to clean the floors of the White House.'
I'm still not convinced that Emanuel's appointment is that significant for the Obama Administration's Middle East policy. Few Presidents have taken foreign policy advice from their Chiefs of Staff, and I don't sense that Obama is going to prefer Emanuel to, say, the Secretary of State or National Security Advisor.
It's striking, though, how much play this story is getting in the Middle Eastern press (though, interestingly, the English-language Jerusalem Post was much more muted, merely recycling the quotes from Ma'ariv) and how non-existent the Israel-Palestine angle is in the US and British media's coverage of Emanuel's appointment One has to wonder if the Obama team realise that the issue is so charged that a tangential appointment causes consternation throughout Middle Eastern communities and, consequently, how expectations --- positive and negative --- are already being formed.
tagged Barack Obama, Israel, Palestine, Rahm Emanuel in Middle East & Iran
Barack Obama, Israel, Palestine, Rahm Emanuel in Middle East & Iran
Reader Comments (6)
You're probably right. But Don Regan sat next to Reagan at the negotiation table at Reykjavik. Then again, maybe he was just holding Reagan's flashcards. But Regan certainly made it sound like he was advising the President on INF and other things in his 'For the Record' memoir. Perhaps this isn't the norm.
Scott, I think you might be interested in the following link.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/11/06/59637.html
I took the following from Haaretz.com (comments section). This was the fiasco that led to Young's resignation, but I don't know about the Eizenstat factor in this. Eizenstat and/or Emanuel Obama tactic - digging too deep?
"Same tactic as Jimmy Carter when he put a Jew, Stuart Eizenstat as Chief Domestic Policy Adviser from 1977 to 1981? In that period Carter`s UN ambassador, Andrew Young, played footsie in back door dealings with the PLO (in violation of Israel/US agreement at that time). Carter`s machinations with Israel helped bring Menachem Begin to power in Israel. Obama - Carter redux?"
I wouldn't necessarily say that the UK media has been muted. there was an article, admittedly a very short one, in Saturday's Guardian with that same quote from Emmanuel's father. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/08/obama-rahm-emanuel-white-house
I'd imagine you're right in saying that Immanuel is unlikely to have a major foreign policy role. Has there been a chief of staff who had any kind of foreign policy clout Scott?
Simon,
Thanks --- have to admit I missed the Guardian reference. That said, it was brief to the point of passing comment.
Re the foreign policy clout: Dave has a point in his comment that Reagan's Chief of Staff Don Regan claimed to have some foreign policy influence. I would take that claim with some scepticism, however, given the reaction from other Reagan officials to his memoirs.
My own sketchy recollection is that the last non-foreign policy White House staffer to make a difference was Clark Clifford, Truman's White House counsel.
Rahm Emanuel: Mossad Officer
by Baron Bodissey
I can’t embed this MEMRI video, but everyone should go over to Israel News and check it out:
http://www.infolive.tv/en/infolive.tv-32204-israelnews-lebanese-journalist-calls-obamas-new-chief-staff-rahm-emanuel-mossad
In a video from MEMRI (The Middle East Media Research Institute) Lebanese Journalist Hassan Hamadah calls the Obama’s future White House Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel an officer for the Israeli Mossad. The outrageous statements are yet another example of the widespread ignorance and misinformation systematically spread throughout the Arab and Muslim world.
Whoa! An officer of the Mossad, right there in the White House! The equivalent of the position of Prime Minister in the new administration!