The Peace Maker

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.

 

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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.")

Emanuel's status as a near-native son gave some Israelis and Jews the impression he would be their guy on the Obama team—the pro-Israeli with the receptive ear. He had those golden Zionist credentials, after all: His father, Benjamin, had been a member of the Irgun, the right-wing Jewish militia that existed before Israeli independence. His Uncle Emanuel had been killed in a skirmish with Arabs back in the '30s, prompting the family to change its name from Auerbach to honor him. But some in the Jewish community have been disappointed. Even his own rabbi, Asher Lopatin, has doubts about his absent congregant. "There is a lot of disappointment," says Lopatin, who presides over the Modern Orthodox Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation in Chicago. "In some ways there was a heightened expectation because Rahm is so connected to Israel and the Jewish community. Instead what we've seen is more of the tough Rahm Emanuel. Not the warm Rahm."

Like Bibi Netanyahu, whose fierce scholarly father raised his sons on the idea of a "greater Israel" that includes not only the West Bank but Jordan too, Emanuel has had to contend with paternal expectations. The elder Emanuel, a doctor in Chicago, embarrassed his son last fall telling an Israeli newspaper that of course his boy would influence Obama to be pro-Israeli. "Why wouldn't he? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to be mopping floors at the White House," he said. Rahm Emanuel had to apologize soon afterward to the Arab-American community. (Benjamin Emanuel did not respond to requests for comment.)