Rahm Emanuel Is in Israel To Celebrate Son’s Bar Mitzvah
Rahm Emanuel arrived in Israel to celebrate the bar mitzvah of his son.
The White House chief of staff reportedly landed in Israel over the weekend and traveled to Eilat, and will return to a hotel in Jerusalem for the rest of his stay, according to Ynet.
The bar mitzvah for Zach Emanuel, which is reported to be scheduled to be held at the Western Wall, is also for Emanuel’s nephew, who accompanied Rahm Emanuel and his son to Israel along with the chief of staff’s brothers Ezekiel, a White House health policy adviser, and Ari, a Hollywood agent, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Ari Emanuel is the basis for the agent named Ari, in the HBO series “Entourage,” played by Jeremy Piven.
Emanuel may meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his private visit to the country, according to Ynet.
Israeli extremists had threatened to demonstrate at the bar mitzvah.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO