Adelson-Supported Groups Increase Pressure On Trump Over Embassy Issue

Sheldon Adelson Image by getty images

By Nathan Guttman May 17, 2017

Sheldon Adelson is angry at President Trump.

At least that’s what sources close to the Las Vegas casino billionaire and Republican party megadonor are saying after it became clear that Trump is not planning to move the U.S. embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in the near future.

Now pro-Israel groups and individuals that enjoy Adelson’s generous financial backing are speaking out against the president’s refusal to go ahead with relocating the embassy.

On Monday it was Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, which is partly funded by Adelson. Klein told the Forward that he may have spoken “too soon” when praising Trump as the most pro-Israel president ever.

Tuesday found another Adelson-backed group speaking out: Christians United for Israel called on its members to sign a petition urging President Trump to “keep a pledge that motivated millions” and move the embassy to Jerusalem.

And Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, whose organization is also supported by Adelson, made his own plea in Breitbart. “We Jews do not forget,” Boteach wrote. “It is an opportunity he must not decline.”

Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com or on Twitter @nathanguttman.

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO