Americans in Israel gear up for Barack Obama's inauguration

As millions flocked to Washington to witness the inauguration of Barack Obama, Americans in Israel geared up to mark the new U.S. president's first day in office.

The local branch of the Democratic Party has organized a dinner party at Zolli's Pub in Jerusalem's central Nahlat Shiva neighborhood. In a gesture of "true bipartisanship," they invited, "all American citizens in Israel - Democrats, Republicans and Independents and their spouses or partners."

The American embassy in Israel has also planned an event to celebrate Inauguration Day with a video conference lecture from Professor Robert "KC" Johnson, a former Fulbright Scholar at Tel Aviv University. After the conference at the American Center in Jerusalem the guests will stay and watch the inauguration over wine and cheese.

An American-Israeli living in Jerusalem told Haaretz that, "I'm very exited about the inauguration. I wish I could be in Washington, partaking in the festivities. I wish Israel had a leader like Obama."

Two hours after the inauguration ceremony, the Hed Big Band will enter the stage at Tel Aviv's Club Hed for an evening dedicated to "celebrating the influence of African music on American Jazz, in honor of Barack Obama," according to the band's musical director, Yehuda Cohen. The event will be broadcast live on 88 FM.

The community of Black Hebrews in Dimona will screening a video presentation "dedicated to the work of Dr. [Martin Luther] King," said community spokesman Prince Immanuel Ben-Yehuda. Monday was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The event was to take place on Inauguration Day to demonstrate the Hebrews' hope that the Obama administration will stand for a "continuation of these efforts to establish new standards in non-violent conflict resolution," Ben-Yehuda said.

Other American organizations, such as the Democrats Abroad, also have events planned.

Obama, 47, the son of a Kenyan father and a white mother from Kansas, was set to take the oath of office at midday (19:00 local time) on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, his hand placed on a Bible used by Abraham Lincoln at his first inauguration in 1861.

Obama's inauguration as America's first black president culminates the hopes and dreams of generations of African-Americans who suffered slavery and then racial segregation policies that made them second-class citizens.

He assumes the mantle of power at a moment of great anxiety among Americans who have seen hundreds of thousands of jobs vanish in past months and left them fearful an economic collapse could turn a crisis into a catastrophe.

The "Obama-mania" that helped propel Obama into office was alive on the streets of Washington.

A winter chill failed to dampen the spirits of more than one million people who swept into the U.S. capital to witness the pomp and ceremony and revel in the festivities surrounding Obama's inauguration as the 44th U.S. president.

"Slavery to History, The Obama Inauguration," was the slogan on a handwritten cardboard sign held by a smiling man on a downtown sidewalk.

Security forces deploy to protect Obama inauguration

Thousands of security personnel were in place to maintain order and guard against an attack. Much of the city center was barricaded and shut down to vehicular traffic.

In an eagerly anticipated inauguration address he has been working on for weeks, Obama will rally Americans to an era of responsibility, urging them to join in a spirit of unity to take on difficult issues.

"Government can only do so much," he told participants in a service project honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday. "We're going to have to take responsibility -- all of us."

Obama in recent days has stressed that Americans should expect even rougher economic times and that his plan to revive the struggling economy will take time to work.

The president-to-be appeared in a giddy mood on Monday night as he spent the evening at dinners honoring former Republican rival John McCain, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

At the event for McCain, he could not resist referring to the sometimes testy campaign debates in which they took part.

"I'm here tonight to say a few words about an American hero I have come to know very well and admire very much -- Senator John McCain. And then, according to the rules agreed to by both parties, John will have approximately 30 seconds to make a rebuttal," he said.

Crowds of people clapped as Obama's motorcade sped through the city en route to the various dinners.

Favorable winds were blowing at Obama's back despite the long to-do list he inherits from President George W. Bush. A realclearpolitics.com average of recent polls showed a remarkable 73 percent of Americans had a favorable view of Obama.

By contrast, Bush leaves with sagging poll numbers, weighed down by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the worst economic problems since the Great Depression. His eight years in power over, Bush is returning home to Texas on Tuesday.

Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney pulled a muscle in his back while moving boxes and will be in a wheelchair for the inauguration ceremony, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

The incoming U.S. vice president, Joe Biden, was chagrined to hear his wife, Jill, make news by telling "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that her husband had been offered his choice of two plum jobs, vice president or secretary of state.

Internal deliberations over top-level jobs are usually kept secret. Biden's spokeswoman, Elizabeth Alexander, later issued a statement saying Obama had offered Biden only the vice presidency.

Obama, who campaigned for the presidency by criticizing Bush, is to spend the morning with him before taking the oath of office. By all accounts, the two men have gotten along well since Obama won, and Bush has repeatedly spoken warmly about him.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, and the Bidens are to attend a church service on Tuesday morning at St. John's Episcopal Church. Then they will have coffee with the Bushes and the Cheneys at the White House.

The group will proceed to the U.S. Capitol for a time-honored ceremony in which Obama will repeat a short oath, pledging he will "faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

	U.S. President-elect Barack Obama attending a bipartisan dinner honoring U.S. Senator John McCain in Washington, on Monday.
	Photo by: (Reuters)