Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama's half-brother Malik, living in Kenya, said Thursday that the candidate will be "good for the Jews" if he is elected the next president of the United States. Malik Obama is a Muslim living in western Kenya, the country where their father was born.

Sen. Obama has declared he is a Christian, and he is trying to erase a pro-Arab image, embellished by his middle name, which is Hussein. During his campaign, he told Jews at a Florida synagogue that his first name in Hebrew is Baruch, which means "blessed."