Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of former U.S. president Barack Obama and his relationship to the Jewish community.
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Fast Forward Rabbis Changed Prayers To Make Barack Obama’s Inaugural Service ‘Jew-ier’
Preaching to a preacher man – or woman – doesn’t always play out as planned. That’s the lesson learned this week by officials at the National Cathedral after several clergy, including three rabbis, made impromptu changes to the readings they were given to deliver at a prayer service following the Jan. 22 inauguration of President…
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Fast Forward Diane Feinstein’s Plan for Assault Weapon Ban Will Get a Vote in Senate
The senator leading the charge to revive a U.S. assault weapons ban conceded on Sunday, just days before hearings on gun control open, that winning Senate passage will be tough but said she has been assured she will have the chance to bring it up for a vote. President Barack Obama, who has made gun…
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Fast Forward Jewish Leaders Back New White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough
President Obama named as his new chief of staff a security official, Denis McDonough, who has strong ties to the Jewish organizational community. McDonough, until now the deputy to National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, handled much of the National Security Council’s Israel-related traffic and has strong ties with Jewish groups, speaking for instance to the…
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News Putting Bibi and Barack on the Couch
As Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama look toward new terms in office, their long, tense relationship will now feature a new twist: The re-inaugurated American leader launches his second term greatly emboldened, while the Israeli prime minister emerges from a jolt of an election that has greatly weakened him. Nevertheless, psychiatrists and political analysts alike…
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Israel News Denis McDonough, Choice for Chief of Staff, Raised Hackles on Israel
With Jack Lew’s departing the White House in favor of the top cabinet post of Treasury Secretary, President Obama announced Friday that Denis McDonough will fill in his position as White House chief of staff. McDonough will be Obama’s fourth chief of staff. Two of his predecessors were Jewish: Rahm Emanuel, who is now mayor…
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News Why Israeli Vote Predictions Were Wrong, 103-Year Sentence
In this week’s Reporters Roundtable podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis is joined by Forward opinion editor Gal Beckerman to discuss why all the predictions for a big win by Benjamin Netanyahu were wrong. Then, staff writer Paul Berger looks at the case of ultra-Orthodox counselor Nechemya Weberman who was sentenced to 103 years in prison after…
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Fast Forward Obama Names Foreign Policy Aide Denis McDonough New Chief of Staff
President Barack Obama on Friday named longtime foreign policy aide Denis McDonough as his new White House chief of staff, tapping a trusted loyalist to help drive his second-term agenda as he unveiled a major overhaul of senior staff. Obama announced the appointment of McDonough, who had been widely tipped to fill the vacancy created…
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Fast Forward Jack Lew Courts Senate GOP for Treasury Nod
Senate Republicans on Wednesday offered encouraging words about President Barack Obama’s Treasury nominee, Jack Lew, but withheld support, saying the former White House budget director’s qualifications and views must still be scrutinized. Lew met with four Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee, which is in charge of vetting his nomination. The lawmakers said they discussed…
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