Dr. Ben Chouake, a member of Sen. John McCain’s finance committee and the president of the North Jersey Political Action Committee, was clearly disappointed by his candidate’s loss.

NORPAC, which is bipartisan and mainly supports incumbents with good pro-Israel records, endorsed McCain last week.

Chouake said, in a telephone interview on Wednesday, “I hope that, as many people have said, Obama will be very strong on U.S.-Israel relations. That’s what he promised and that’s what the people advocating him believed. The main issue he will have to face will be the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran.

“I hope he perceives this as a grave threat to world peace, as many of us do,” the Englewood resident continued, “and will be successful in preventing Iran, which has a very hateful and aggressive government, from acquiring these terrible weapons.”

He acknowledged, however, that “there’s a lot you can control and a lot you can’t control.”

Other issues, like the economy, are important, he said, but “the threat of nuclear genocide [to Israel] is the most important.”

Also, Iran’s becoming a nuclear power would affect “more than just Israel,” Chouake said. Other countries in the already unstable region would pursue a nuclear program, he said, making it “a hot area on the map with hot weapons.”