Netanyahu's Millionaire List
Movie Review - Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire Insults Indian Ethos
America's Primetime Obession with the Millionaire Lifestyle
Kids in Slumdog Millionaire Paid Poorly
Is Slumdog Millionaire a ‘poverty porn’?
Mondoweiss, one of the best blogs on the Mideast, has published an interesting story about Israeli prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu and his campaign contributors.
His 'list of millionaires', as it has been dubbed, was prepared back in 2007 prior to the early 2009 Knesset elections and it has since been published, leaked?, by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
What is amusing is that Israeli politicians do not just raise money in Israel, but do so in America. And heavily so. According to Yedioth Ahronoth, 98% of the money Netanyahu was eventually able to raise for his election bid came from abroad, most of it from American-Jews.
That is neither surprising nor news. It is well known that some prominent Americans Jews (some are dual Israeli-American nationals) are donors to Israeli politicians and Netanyahu is even close with Sheldon Adelson, a Republican Las Vegas casino magnet who is the richest Jewish individual in America and known for funding not only "Bibi" but a host of right-wing, pro-Israel causes.
But what is interesting is to the extent that there is little left-right divide when it comes to American donors. It's natural that Adelson, who funds, say, the neo-con so-called 'thank tank' American Enterprise Institute, would prefer Likud over Labor and Kadima. But even professed liberals here in America become supporters of the far-right and backers of opponents of a Palestinian state in Israel. Like Haim Seban and Mort Zukermann. Both men backed Obama and claim to support the two-state solution, but both found their names on "Bibi's" list. Seban in particular is known for is militant views on Israel. An Egyptian by birth, raised in Israel, a relatively recent arrive in America, he was a friend of Arial Sharon and is also a generous donor to the Democrats. It all explains something:
Saban is a wealthy ”entertainment mogul” whose “greatest concern is to protect Israel” and who is “one of the largest individual donors to the Democratic Party,” according to a May 2010 profile of him in the New Yorker. The profile notes that “in 2002, he contributed seven million dollars toward the cost of a new building for the Democratic National Committee—one of the largest known donations ever made to an American political party.” But his political views match up with the Israeli right-wing, a decidedly illiberal set of viewpoints.
Zuckerman is a media mogul who owns the New York Daily News and is the editor-in-chief of U.S. News and World Report, and is a major contributor to the Democratic Party, according to the Center for Reponsive Politics’ Open Secrets website. He is a former head of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and espouses hawkish views when it comes to the Palestinians. For instance, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Zuckerman calls Jerusalem ”its capital” and refers to the illegal settlement of Ramat Shlomo in East Jerusalem as a “Jewish suburb.”
The Democratic Party is beholden to people like Zuckerman and Saban, who were listed as potential donors to a right-wing Israeli political party whose official platform states that Likud “rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan river.”
No wonder Likudnik views get play within the supposedly liberal party in American politics.
If the same people donating to Likud are also seen as "liberals" here in America is better explains the poverty and apologia from "liberals" when it comes to Israel and why even those who dissent, particularly politicians, are afraid to publicly stand against. Money, it corrupts ideals.
