Zach Emanuel at Western Wall
Photo: Ohad Zoigenberg
Proud father Rahm
Photo: Noam Moscowitz
Zach Emanuel celebrates bar mitzvah
Ceremony for son of White House chief of staff held without press, before just 50 guests
Zach Emanuel, the son of the White House's chief of staff, celebrated his bar mitzvah Sunday at the Davidson Center in Jerusalem's Old City.
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On the scene were numerous security guards, some of whom are accompanying Rahm Emanuel on his visit to Israel. They prevented the press from entering the premises.
The Davidson Center said the hour-long ceremony went off without a hitch, despite earlier fears that extreme rightists would attempt to cause disruptions.
The Emanuel family held the ceremony on Robinson's Arch, through which it was possible to ascend to Temple Mount during the time of the second temple. It is located southwest of the holy site, not far from the Western Wall.
Family members visited the wall last week, angering rightists. A number of them yelled "anti-Semite" at Emanuel, and extreme right-wing activist Itamar Ben-Gvir tried to legally prevent the bar-mitzvah from being carried out.
However his appeal was rejected by the Jerusalem Municipality, which said the bar-mitzvah was a routine occurrence and posed no legal violations.
