Obama names Rahm Emanuel, son of former Israelis, chief of staff

By JPOST.COM STAFF
President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday offered the job of White House chief of staff to Democratic Congressman Rahm Emanuel, who reportedly accepted the offer. Emanuel is the Chicago-born son of former Israelis. The 48-year-old Emanuel is a member of the Orthodox Jewish community of Chicago and grew up speaking Hebrew with his father, a pediatrician who was a member of the Jewish resistance in Palestine before the War of Independence in 1948. During the Gulf War in 1991, Emanuel came to Israel to serve as a civilian volunteer. Emanuel was a senior advisor to Bill Cliton during his term in the White House and was first elected to Congress in 2002. Emanuel was named the Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2005.