Rahm Emanuel.....the Musical

While associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are convinced that Emanuel is inciting the U.S. president against Israel behind the scenes - and providing the amateurish psychological explanation that he is "a Jew consumed by self-hatred" - people in Washington who disapprove of his conduct don't look for profound psychological motives. Indeed, some sum up their viewpoint simply by saying: "He's a jerk."

With his coarse short-temperedness, Emanuel stands out even in a city like Washington, D.C, about which Obama himself once said, quoting president Harry S. Truman: "They say if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." Emanuel can begin a conversation with the threat that if any of its contents are leaked to the media, none of those involved will ever see him or anyone else in the White House again, and finish it with an impolite hint that he needs to send an e-mail.

Those who are familiar with his almost obsessive preoccupation with order, his self-discipline and his determination, believe that his behavior is a tactical choice. He has a tendency to be insufferable, but he can cover for that with captivating humor at his own expense. He has a hot temper, but he also has healthy political instincts and an impressive record of successes. This despicable/charming duality was probably best summed up by Emanuel himself when he once said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune: "I wake up some mornings hating me too."

When Rahm's father hears that the interlocutor is an Israeli journalist, Dr. Benjamin Emanuel, a retired Jerusalem-born pediatrician who moved to Chicago in the 1950s after finishing his studies in Switzerland, switches to Hebrew.

"I'm simply surprised that in Israel they jump down his throat," he says angrily. "I love the country, my children are Zionists, they came to Israel every year, and I don't know why they're attacking Rahm. I support Netanyahu, I was a member of the Etzel" - referring to the right-wing pre-state military underground.

Benjamin Emanuel is not interested in discussing the gap between his views and those of his son regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"We don't talk about his work," he says abruptly. "I don't have anything to say about it. And I'll tell you the truth, I don't talk to journalists. My son told me not to talk to any journalist, not an American, not a Frenchman. I spoke once and they turned everything upside down."

The father of the White House chief of staff refers to a statement published in the Israeli daily Maariv shortly after Rahm's appointment, when he was quoted as being proud of his son's new job, and saying: "Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn't he? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to clean the floors of the White House."

The son responded with swift damage control, and apologized in the name of his family to an organization of Arab Americans...