As back as May 2019, I had written a blog and its title was “Sheldon
Adelson: Jackpot for Israel”. Its opening paragraph was, “A bet on Donald Trump
for president may have seemed risky two years ago, but for billionaire casino
magnate Sheldon Adelson the payout has been spectacular. Adelson (85-year old)
and his wife Miriam gave around US$82 million to Republicans and candidate Trump
in 2016 and within two years his two major asks were met: moving the US embassy
in Israel to Jerusalem, and withdrawing of US from Iran nuclear deal”. Today I
have managed to gather some details, which are worth reading.
Sheldon Adelson, the Israel-loving, Iran-war-craving casino
baron, talks to Donald Trump all the time, and for good reason, he and wife
Miriam are the biggest Republican donors, poised to give as much as US$200
million this year. Now that the White House appears to be lying down for
the Israeli government as it moves to annex portions of the West Bank despite a
growing chorus of international condemnation, the focus should be on Adelson.
He has always been a strong supporter of Israeli expansion, a man who
says, “There’s no such thing as a Palestinian.”
Adelsons have gotten everything they wanted from US President:
tearing up the Iran deal, moving the embassy to Jerusalem, defunding
Palestinians, recognizing the Golan annexation, treating settlement expansion
as legitimate, even a presidential medal of freedom for Miriam, etc. Right up
to yesterday — a Trump attack on the ICC in the name of Israel. As
Trump once said when a Republican rival was getting Adelson’s money,
Adelson wanted a “perfect little puppet.”
Most important, the Adelsons got the Trump “peace plan,”
which paves the way for annexation of the West Bank. When Trump announced his
“vision,” there they were in the front row. Especially if Trump loses in
November, as appears more and more likely — this is the Adelsons’ last chance
to get annexation. They speak to Trump all the time.
Look at it from Trump’s point of view. He doesn’t care about
peace in the Middle East or Palestinian human rights. He wants one thing, to
win in November, and he needs money. Why would the Adelsons risk US$200 million
on a loser? Well, because it’s not a losing cause; they get their payback now.
They figure that Israeli annexation is permanent no matter what happens to
Trump. “Facts on the ground” is the Israeli way of expansion. The embassy move
will never be reversed by a Joe Biden. So let’s annex.
Sheldon’s Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom is promoting
annexation. He believes, annexation is Israel’s right, and it poses no threat
to the interests of either the United States or the Jewish state. The paper is
an important rightwing voice in Israel, and the Adelsons have been big
supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu. So they may also play a role in
Netanyahu’s zeal to annex, when he had a lot of opportunities to
dismiss that policy.
The Guardian said in February that insiders expect
the Adelsons to donate between US$100 and US$200 million to Trump’s
reelection hopes this year. If that seems like a big lift, look at their track
record: The Adelsons gave more than US$100 million to Republican causes
in 2016 and another US$123 million during the 2018 election.
McClatchy reported last year that the Adelsons were
putting off their big donations in 2020 until as late as possible, so as
not to excite negative publicity. Adelson is a funder and board member of the
Republican Jewish Coalition that calls Trump the most pro-Israel president
ever and, big coincidence, the RJC “is launching a lobbying effort on Capitol
Hill to rally support for Israeli annexation.
The RJC is chaired by the ex-senator Norm Coleman. . . who
is said to have strong ties to Adelson that benefit the RJC and other Super
Pacs and dark money outfits where Coleman is a big player.
Coleman helps lead fundraising for a Super Pac, the
Congressional Leadership Fund, and a dark money outfit, the American Action
Network, that respectively back Republican House members and their policies and
have received seven-figure checks from the Adelsons in recent elections.
The Adelsons have seemed to have their way on annexation so
far. Annexation of large parts of the West Bank is green lighted in Trump’s
deal of the century. Adelsons wanted the plan out well ahead of the election,
Dan Raviv of i24 said, so that Israel would be freed to set its own border this
year before November comes and possibly limits its autonomy. Adelsons may be
the most important actors in this entire foreign policy discussion. Maybe the
media should be telling us more about them now. . .