Biden rules out appointing Rahm Emanuel as Israel envoy -- report

Former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel could be appointed ambassador to China or Japan, according to NBC News, which cites three sources involved in the deliberations.

The idea of appointing the Jewish former White House chief of staff as envoy to Israel was raised, but was quickly discarded over his tense relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the report says.

According to NBC News: “Another person familiar with the discussions said Emanuel’s name had also been floated internally for US ambassador to Israel. But, this person said, the idea was deemed unworkable because of Emanuel’s notoriously rocky relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, dating to his time as Obama’s chief of staff.”