Jeffrey Goldberg, on the appointment of Rahm Emanuel as White House Chief of Staff:
1) This choice makes the entire "Does Obama secretly hate Israel?" conversation seem a bit ridiculous (Though the vast majority of Jewish voters seemed to have figured that out by the election). Rahm did not, despite the rumors, serve in the Israeli Army, but he is deeply and emotionally committed to Israel and its safety. We've talked about the issue a dozen times; it's something he thinks about constantly, and his appointment gives me further reason to believe that the Obama Administration will not wait seven years to address the Israeli-Arab crisis.I can't say this more clearly: there was never any reason to believe that Obama doesn't support Israel. Every "reason" put forward in that regard, always, was wholly imaginary.2) Peace-processors take heart: Rahm, precisely because he's a lover of Israel, will not have much patience with Israeli excuse-making, so when the next Prime Minister tells President Obama that as much as he'd love to, he can't dismantle the Neve Manyak settlement outpost, or whichever outpost needs dismantling, because of a) domestic politics; b) security concerns, or c) the Bible, Rahm will call out such nonsense, and it will be very hard for right-wing Israelis to come back and accuse him of being a self-hating Jew. This is not to say that he's unaware of Palestinian dysfunction, or Iranian extremism, but that he has a good grasp of some of Israel's foibles as well. All in all, it's a very heartening choice.
Jewcy has more.
Well of course he doesn't hate Israel and it may not be for personal reasons, but rather that of an economic and strategic one. Israel has the second-largest number of start up companies in the world and it is a buffer for the United States between Iran and Syria. What we see and hear in the news isn't always the real world. Israel is and will be a powerful business partner to the US. He can be a "Jew Hater" all he wants, the fact remains the USA needs Israel as a partner. I think there is a real idealistic problem with Israel that people should Identify with. The US has been dishing out economic aid in the Billions to Israel since the 70's. Some people feel like that money should be spent here at home, probably why it is ending this year.
Posted by: Jack Moyer at November 7, 2008 02:14 PM