HE HAS NO PALESTINIAN CONSTITUENCY TO WORRY ABOUT:

Obama Rahms His Agenda (Jay D. Homnick, 11.7.08, American Spectator)

Barack Obama sent a reassuring signal to Jews who doubted his commitment to Israel by choosing Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff. Rahm's father is an Israeli who fought for the Irgun under the late Menachem Begin. Rahm himself went to Israel to volunteer on an army base during the Gulf War of 1991, making sure the weaponry was in a functional state.

To the Palestinians, hearing that a Jew was the first pick can't be encouraging. To hear he's an Israeli must be galling. But to hear he comes from an Irgun family will enrage them to a fever pitch.

The Arabs, even the most simpatico among them, are not fans of the Zionists who liberated Israel from British rule. The fact that Ben-Gurion, Weitzmann and their Haganah force were political leftists endears them but little. Still, through gritted teeth they learn to tolerate. But try and mention Begin's Irgun or Yitzhak Shamir's Lehi to any non-Jewish Middle Easterner and watch smoke coming out of their ears. The Irgun and Lehi were the right-wing, and a much tougher crew.