Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of former U.S. president Barack Obama and his relationship to the Jewish community.
Barack Obama
The Latest
-
Breaking News 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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Breaking News 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…
-
Breaking News 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…
-
Breaking News Pro-Israel Groups Jump on Chuck Hagel Bandwagon
A number of prominent pro-Israel Jewish figures joined an ad endorsing Chuck Hagel for the U.S. defense secretary post. Meanwhile, Christians United for Israel announced plans to bring 200 pastors and other Christian leaders to Washington to lobby against Hagel’s confirmation, according to Breitbart.com. The pro-Hagel ad appearing Wednesday in The Hill, a Capitol Hill…
-
Breaking News Get Ready for Next Round Between Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu
Get ready for The Barack and Bibi Show, Part Two. With crunch-time looming in the Iranian nuclear standoff and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict still smoldering, the fractious relationship between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be tested in coming months like never before, as both leaders move into new terms in office….
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Trump says Jews would deserve much of the blame if he loses
- 2
Culture Hitler is trending on TikTok again — and they’re trying to make him seem like a nice guy
- 3
Opinion This GOP candidate has always been antisemitic — so why are Republicans only panicking about him now?
- 4
Fast Forward Sitcom star encourages non-Jews like her to hang mezuzahs on their homes
In Case You Missed It
-
Looking Forward An Israeli hip-hop artist remembers a day of hope in Gaza
-
Sports The Jewish Sport Report: How the Chicago White Sox made a bad year even worse for Jewish fans
-
Oct. 7: One Year Later A different closet: Queer Zionists navigate the post-Oct. 7 dating scene
-
Looking Forward Why won’t Kamala Harris talk about her brisket?
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism