Jewish billionaires George Soros and Haim Saban reportedly have donated a total of $3 million to the presidential campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Meanwhile, in a July 2 letter to Saban, Clinton said she will speak out against the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel during her presidential campaign.
Saban, an Israeli Hollywood mogul, has given $2 million to Priorities USA Action, Clinton’s super PAC, while Soros, a Hungary-born business magnate, has donated $1 million, according to a Politico article published July 2.
Clinton’s super PAC, which is dedicated to airing ads supporting the Democrat’s bid for the 2016 presidency, revealed on July 2 that it had raised $15.6 million during the first half of the year.
Other heavy donors included DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and director J.J. Abrams and his wife, Katie McGrath, as well as California investor Herb Sandler and Boston philanthropist Barbara Lee.
According to an analysis published on July 3, also by Politico, Clinton is privately signaling to wealthy Jewish donors that no matter the result of the Iranian nuclear negotiations, she will be a better friend to Israel than President Barack Obama, whom she served as secretary of state during his first term.
“I know you agree that we need to make countering BDS a priority,” Clinton wrote in the July 2 letter to Saban. “I am seeking your advice on how we can work together — across party lines and with a diverse array of voices — to reverse this trend with information and advocacy, and fight back against further attempts to isolate and delegitimize Israel.”
The Democratic front-runner concludes the letter, which Saban released through a public relations agency, by saying that she plans to address the BDS threat in the coming weeks, as her campaign intensifies.
But on the Iranian nuclear deal, which the Obama administration is working to close in the near future, Clinton has been noncommittal, according to the Politico report.
Donors who oppose the deal are under the impression that she shares their reservations, while those supporting the agreement believe that she agrees with them, according to the Politico article based on interviews with more than 10 Jewish donors. — jta