Obama's first pick: Israeli Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff

A day after his historic election to become the first black American president, Barack Obama stepped into the role of president-elect yesterday, inviting Rahm Emanuel to join his administration as White House chief of staff, Democratic officials said.

Emanuel, a former Bill Clinton adviser, is the son of a Jerusalem-born pediatrician who was a member of the Irgun (Etzel or IZL), a militant Zionist group that operated in Palestine between 1931 and 1948.

Obama intends to announce key cabinet and staff staff members in the next few days to ensure a swift transition to the White House in January, which would allow him to deal with the global economic crisis as quickly as possible.

If Emanuel accepts, he will return to the White House, where he served as a political and policy adviser to Clinton. Emanuel is the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives as the Democratic Caucus chairman.

Emanuel knows Obama from his hometown Chicago and headed the special team that planned the midterm elections in 2006, in which the Democrats recaptured a Congressional majority.

Emanuel also served as inspiration for the fictional character Joshua "Josh" Lyman, the deputy White House chief of staff, played by Bradley Whitford on the television drama "The West Wing."

Obama is expected to appoint loyal advisers and aides to central cabinet and staff positions, as well as experienced officials from the Clinton administration and a few prominent Republicans to enhance his intention to bridge political gaps.