Charles "Chas" Freeman was selected last month by the administration of Barak Obama, the US president, for one of the country's top intelligence jobs, chairman of the National Intelligence Council.

Within hours, pro-Israel advocates launched a major offensive to make sure Freeman's appointment did not stand.

Advocates say Freeman was a natural choice: He was a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, who has also served as an assistant secretary of defence and a senior US diplomat in China.