The Peace Maker-Rahm Emanuel's Mideast Mission

The Peace Maker

Rahm Emanuel's Mideast Mission.
Dan Ephron and Michael Hirsh
NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Jun 1, 2009


One might be forgiven for thinking that Benjamin Netanyahu and Rahm Emanuel hark from parallel universes. Both are the sons of strong-willed, right-wing Israeli fathers. Both have sought to prove their bona fides as defenders of Israel (Netanyahu by serving in an elite commando unit of the Israeli military; Emanuel by rushing off to volunteer for Israel during the first Gulf War). And both men come from intense, competitive broods consisting of three successful brothers—Netanyahu's older brother, Yoni, was a national hero, the slain commander at Entebbe; Emanuel's younger brother, Ari, is a Hollywood superagent who has earned a kind of immortality, American style, as the inspiration for an HBO character. (The other brother of each is, naturally, a doctor.) Emanuel grew up in Chicago but spent summers in Israel. Netanyahu grew up in Israel but spent his teen and college years in the United States. The two men are alike in other ways as well: both can be abrasive and appear arrogant. Both are political infighters who hate losing.

They could almost be siblings. So it's more than a little odd that Emanuel and Netanyahu could instead end up on opposite sides of the bargaining table. Emanuel, as Obama's chief of staff, is not going to be negotiating directly with the Israelis, Iranians or anyone else. But he is emerging as a central player in efforts to press Israel on key issues like Iran's nuclear program and talks with the Palestinians—and to sell those policies to the U.S. Jewish community. "Rahm's got a big role, no question," says a senior administration official who would discuss Emanuel only on condition of anonymity. "He has a huge level of knowledge on the issues, a history with the issues. And he's got the complete trust of the president."

The most serious tensions could arise over Iran. Israel believes that stopping the Iranians from acquiring nuclear-weapons capability is an existential must, and Israeli officials worry that Obama may be too inclined to compromise. Whether that fear is justified or not, the Obama administration believes that the best way to get international leverage over Iran is to make real efforts to achieve a Palestinian state. Netanyahu says he wants to negotiate with the Palestinians, but he won't endorse the idea of an independent state.

Emanuel has a special kind of credibility when it comes to pushing Mideast peace. "It's a Nixon-goes-to-China thing," says Rep. Jane Harman, a senior member of the House Democratic Caucus, where Emanuel served in a leadership position until last fall. "He can be blunt in ways that others can't." William Daroff, who directs the Washington office of the United Jewish Communities and knows Emanuel, calls him "Obama's secret weapon." It's not just that Obama can use Emanuel's Israel-friendly reputation as a kind of shield, allowing him to display "tough love" toward the Jewish state. Daroff told NEWSWEEK Rahm has such a nuanced understanding of Israeli politics, he can easily act as the president's BS detector as negotiations go forward. "The Israelis aren't going to be able to slide anything past the administration because Rahm is who he is." The Hebrew-speaking Emanuel, as much as anyone on the American side, will know if the Israeli prime minister is bluffing about his "red line" on Iran, or what he can really do about halting settlements in the West Bank. (Asked to comment, Emanuel's spokeswoman, Sarah Feinberg, told newsweek that his goal was to ensure that the president has "every option available to him as we pursue peace.")

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http://www.newsweek.com/id/199146/output/print

.... Chiefs of Staffs dont last long and I fear this one will want to bolt even sooner. We NEED him.