Former New York City Mayor and political donor Michael Bloomberg with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
By Alison Weir
Two Israel partisans are the top campaign donors in the midterm elections, each pumping millions of dollars into campaign coffers.
Billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who once said he wished he’d served in the Israeli military instead of the American one, is donating tens of millions of dollars to Republicans. He is expected to be the top donor in this election cycle.
Adelson, accompanied by his wife, speaking to an Israeli group in July 2010:
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who has twice flown to Israel in the midst of its massacres in Gaza to demonstrate his support for Israel, is coming in second, giving tens of millions of dollars to Democrats. Bloomberg has pledged to spend $100 million in the final weeks leading up to the election.
Bloomberg, who was a Republican until recently, has hinted that he may run for President in 2020.
In addition to giving candidates money, Bloomberg is also personally campaigning for some, including Tennessee’s Phil Bredesen and Florida’s Andrew Gillum.
Last week the Tampa Bay Times reported: “[Andrew Gillum] walked into one of the most dependable voting precincts in South Florida wearing a yarmulke and touted his ties to Florida’s Jewish community. In the company of the Jewish former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, [Andrew] Gillum delivered a short speech in which he spoke about his three trips to Israel during his time in office in Tallahassee and his family’s history.”
Bloomberg gives both personal donations and PAC donations from his political action committee “Everytown for Gun Safety.”
While Bloomberg appears to be an opponent of guns, he supports Israel, where settlers on illegally acquired Palestinian land carry and use guns regularly.
For a list of Israelis and Palestinians killed since 2000, see this Timeline:
