WASHINGTON, Nov 14: Barack Obama’s new chief of staff on Friday apologised to a US organisation defending Arab rights after his father made derogatory anti-Arab comments to a major Israeli daily.

Rahm Emanuel called the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee to repudiate the remarks made by his father Benjamin, an Israeli doctor, to the Israeli daily Maariv.

According to the paper, Benjamin Emanuel said that the appointment of his son would be good for Israel.

“Of course he will influence the president to be pro-Israeli ... Why wouldn’t he do that? What, is he an Arab? He won’t be mopping the floors at the White House,” Benjamin Emanuel said.

The committee said Rahm Emanuel had called them and said: “From the fullness of my heart, I personally apologise on behalf of my family and me.

These are not the values upon which I was raised or those of my family.” Emanuel added, “it is unacceptable to make remarks such as these against any ethnic or religious group,” the group said in a statement.

The committee’s president Mary Rose Oakar said: “We cannot allow Arabs and Muslims to be portrayed in these unacceptable terms. I welcome Rahm’s apology and his pledge to meet with our community.”

Rahm Emanuel’s father is an Israeli national and a member of “Etzel,” an ultra-nationalist Jewish group who led guerilla attacks against British troops before the 1948 creation of Israel.

In 1997, Rahm Emanuel did a short period of military service in Israel.—AFP