Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead!

Trump's victory has emboldened Israeli hardliners, who are determined to prevent Palestinian self-determination

If Americans Knew
November 16, 2016

It’s now more important than ever to educate Americans about Israel-Palestine and the powerful interests that are invested in protecting the unjust status quo.

We were disappointed that the presidential candidates who had potentially good positions on this issue were not the primary contenders in this race.

Both of the two main contenders took huge amounts of money from pro-Israel partisans seeking to influence U.S. foreign policy.

Haim Saban’s millions to Clinton

Entertainment mogul and billionaire Haim Saban, who has repeatedly stated “I’m a one-issue guy, and my issue is Israel,” put $10 million dollars into Hillary Clinton’s SuperPAC and hosted a fundraiser for her that added another $5 million to her campaign.

The money in came shortly after Clinton wrote a letter to Saban professing her opposition to the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement (BDS), which Saban then leaked to media.

Saban and his wife Cheryl have also given up to $25 million to the Clinton Foundation over the years.

Sheldon Adelson’s millions to Trump

On the other side, casino magnate and mega billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who became a Republican in large part because he believed Republicans are more sympathetic to Israel than Democrats, gave $25 million dollars to an anti-Hillary SuperPac to benefit Donald trump in the last few months before the election. Adelson once said that he regretted serving in the U.S. military rather than Israel’s:

“I am not Israeli. The uniform that I wore in the military, unfortunately, was not an Israeli uniform. It was an American uniform, although my wife was in the IDF and one of my daughters was in the IDF … our two little boys, one of whom will be bar mitzvahed tomorrow, hopefully he’ll come back–his hobby is shooting–and he’ll come back and be a sniper for the IDF.” (Video here)

Adelson had privately pledged to pour as much as $100 million into Trump’s campaign if needed.

Trump’s changing position on Israel-Palestine

At the beginning of his campaign, Trump actually tweeted that Adelson was using “big dollars” to try to mold Marco Rubio into his puppet. Trump had also initially stated that he would be neutral on Israel-Palestine, but soon after Adelson’s $25 million pledge, Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in New York and told him that he would recognize Jerusalem as the “undivided capital of the State of Israel.”

The day after Trump was declared the winner, Netanyahu proclaimed that “President-elect Trump is a true friend of the State of Israel,” while Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett said, “Trump’s victory is a tremendous opportunity for Israel to immediately announce its intention to renege on the idea of establishing Palestine in the heart of the country… This is the president-elect’s outlook as it appears in his platform, and that definitely should be our way… The era of the Palestinian state is over.”

Our Job

The movement for peace and justice in Israel-Palestine is up against enormous political and financial power. Our movement must reach out to all Americans, giving them the facts they need to demand principled, rational U.S. policies.

We are determined to expose the real facts on this issue and to get this information to the American public every way we can – through billboards, books, videos, speeches, social media, websites, events, and everything and anything else we can think of!

Please help us continue our work by donating whatever you can, and contact us to host an educational presentation on Israel-Palestine in your community.

Thank you,

Alison Weir and the If Americans Knew team