Anyone else read this?
Though Emanuel hasn’t publicly accepted the post, his father, Benjamin Emanuel, an Israeli citizen who lives in Israel, told the Ma’ariv newspaper that he believes his son’s appointment means Obama will necessarily be “pro-Israel.”
Though it’s the next paragraph - reported in today’s Jerusalem Post - that I found particularly interesting:
In an interview with Ma’ariv, Emanuel’s father, Dr. Benjamin Emanuel, said he was convinced that his son’s appointment would be good for Israel. “Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel,” he was quoted as saying. “Why wouldn’t he be? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to clean the floors of the White House.”
With a mixed-race candidate soon to become the most powerful leader in the world, this type of statement seems even more out of place in the public discourse than it would have even a few days ago.
