Rahm Israel Emanuel, US President Barack Obama’s former chief of staff, has been elected as the first Jewish mayor of Chicago in the city’s history. Emanuel, 51, gained 55 percent of the vote in the first round, comfortably beating his five rival candidates. “I want to extend my congratulations to Rahm Emanuel on a well-deserved victory tonight,” Obama said in a statement. “As a Chicagoan and a friend, I couldn’t be prouder. Rahm will be a terrific mayor for all the people of Chicago.”
Emanuel was born in Chicago to Jewish parents. His father, Benjamin M. Emanuel, is a Jerusalem-born pediatrician who was once a member of the Irgun, a Jewish paramilitary organization that operated in British-controlled Palestine. Rahm Emanuel attended a Jewish day school and during the first Gulf War in 1991 volunteered in the Israel Defense Forces as a civilian helping to maintain equipment.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that the Obama’s chief adviser on the Middle East, Dan Shapiro, will become new US ambassador to Israel. Shapiro is currently senior director at the National Security Council for the Middle East and North Africa. He would succeed James Cunningham, America’s current envoy in Tel Aviv.
