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Since US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the United States will now recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, many have asked if GOP mega donor and casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson might be behind such a decision.
Adelson, who last year purchased the Las Vegas Review Journal, is considered one of the ten most wealthiest men in the world. He has long been a strong advocate on behalf of Israel.
From 972Magazine:
The Jewish-American casino mogul, also a major supporter of Prime Minister Netanyahu, has reportedly grown impatient with Trump’s delays to follow through on his campaign promise to move the American embassy.
That website added:
[S]ources say the Las Vegas billionaire doesn’t buy the argument that the embassy move should be contingent on the peace process. He has told Trump that Palestinians are impossible negotiating partners and make demands that Israel can never meet.
Adelson and his wife Miriam spent more than $80 million on Republicans in 2016, and he gave $5 million to Trump’s inauguration.
The move received almost universal condemnation across the world, especially in the Arab world.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party said it would complain to the UN about what Mr Abbas called a "deplorable" decision. Saudi Arabia called it "unjustified and irresponsible", while France and the UK said they did not support the decision.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu hailed it as "historic" and said he was sure more countries would follow suit.
Trump's move reversed decades of US policy related to Israel and Palestinians.
The New York Times had this to add:
Ten days before Donald J. Trump took office, Sheldon G. Adelson went to Trump Tower for a private meeting. Afterward, Mr. Adelson, the casino billionaire and Republican donor, called an old friend, Morton A. Klein, to report that Mr. Trump told him that moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would be a major priority.
“He was very excited, as was I,” said Mr. Klein, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, a hard-line pro-Israel group. “This is something that’s in his heart and soul.”
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
