Israeli media on Thursday hailed Barack Obama's choice of Rahm Emanuel to be his chief of staff, with one daily calling the Democrat of Israeli descent "our man in the White House."

Radio stations and newspapers pointed out Emanuel's Jerusalem-born father was once a member of Irgun, an underground, ultra-nationalist Jewish movement that fought British troops before the 1948 creation of the state of Israel.

Emanuel himself volunteered to serve in the Israeli army and did a two-month stint at a base in northern Israel during the 1991 Gulf War, public radio reported.

"It is obvious he will exert influence on the president to be pro-Israeli," Emanuel's father, who moved to the United States in the 1960s, told the Maariv daily.

The newspaper headlined the article: "Our man in the White House."

Democrats say Obama has asked Emanuel, a combative congressman and former Bill Clinton White House aide, to be his chief of staff, a vital post that helps set the tempo of the administration.

insidethegulf.com