Israel’s Two Faces at the White House

Published in Il Giornale
(Italy) on 17 May 2017
by Matteo Carnieletto (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Marie Winnick. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
Who does the United States’ first billionaire president turn to when he needs advice? To other billionaires, so says today’s Jerusalem Post. And the two billionaires whom Donald Trump trusts most, especially when needing to define America’s policy with Israel, are Sheldon Adelson and Ronald Lauder.

Adelson was born into a Jewish family in 1933. From a young age, he established himself as a skilled entrepreneur, inclined to begin investing in the world of information technology, although it was in Las Vegas that Adelson had his true business success. In 1988, he purchased the Sands Hotel and Casino and founded the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. He revolutionized the entertainment capital by building The Venetian resort, which features replicas of the most beautiful monuments in Venice. In 2008, when Adelson was the third richest man in America (behind only Bill Gates and Warren Buffett), he gave $25 million to the M.I.S. Hebrew Academy in Las Vegas to build a Jewish high school. In 2005, he donated $500,000 ($250,000 from him and $250,000 from his wife) to George W. Bush’s second presidential campaign and later to Jeb Bush. In 2006, he allocated $25 million to Birthright Israel, an organization that sponsors trips to Israel for young Jews. In 2007, he was one of the founders of Freedom’s Watch, “a group that finances America’s continued involvement in the Iraq war, and is managed and supported in part by former Bush administration officials,” according to Wikipedia. He met Trump in the mid-2000s and their friendship continues to grow.

Lauder is currently president of the World Jewish Congress. Having always been passionate about politics, he ran for mayor of New York in 1989 against Rudy Giuliani but lost. In 1998, he joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an attempt to ease tensions with Syria under Hafez Assad. The negotiations continued even after Israel’s election of Ehud Barak. Lauder has been a part of many organizations that support Israel, such as the Anti-Defamation League and the World Jewish Congress.

But Lauder and Adelson, whose biographies may seem so similar, actually give different counsel to the president. Adelson represents the most controversial line in the American Jewish community and believes that the creation of a Palestinian state would be a boomerang for Israel. The Jerusalem Post even speaks of "catastrophe" for the Jewish state. Lauder, on the other hand, is such a friend of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that during his trip to the United States, the Arab leader dined at the billionaire's home. With a hint of malice, the Jerusalem Post noted, “Notably present at the dinner: representatives of the Trump administration. Notably absent: anyone from the Israeli Embassy.”

Trump would thus seem to have available two different positions—diametrically opposite—to confront. And that, perhaps, also explains the double life of the new White House policy in the Middle East.


I due volti di Israele alla Casa Bianca

Da chi va il primo presidente miliardario degli Stati Uniti quando ha bisogno di consigli? Da altri miliardari. Così scrive il Jerusalem Post di oggi. E i due miliardari di cui Donald Trump si fida di più, soprattutto quando si deve definire la politica americana con Israele, sono Sheldon Adelson e Ronald Lauder.

Adelson nasce nel 1933 da una famiglia ebraica e, fin da giovane, si impone come abile imprenditore, capace di investire fin da subito nel mondo dell’informatica. Ma è a Las Vegas che Adelson riesce a fare i veri affari, acquistando, nel 1988, il Sands Hotel&Casino e fondando il gruppo Las Vegas Sands. Rivoluziona la “capitale del divertimento”, facendo costruire “The Venetian”, il resort che ospita alcune riproduzioni dei monumenti più belli di Venezia. Nel 2008 Adelson è il terzo uomo più ricco d’America (prima di lui ci sono solamente Bill Gates e Warren Buffett) e finanzia con 25 milioni di dollari la M.I.S. Hebrew Academy di Las Vegas per costruire una scuola superiore ebraica. Nel 2005 sostiene con 500mila dollari (250mila suoi e 250mila della moglie) la campagna per il secondo mandato di George W. Bush e poi Jeb Bush. Nel 2006 impiega 25 milioni di dollari in favore del Birthright Israel, un’organizzazione che finanzia i viaggi di giovani ebrei in Israele. Nel 2007 è tra i fondatori del Freedom’s Watch, “un gruppo che finanzia il coinvolgimento continuo degli americani nella guerra in Iraq, ed è gestito e sostenuto, in parte, da ex funzionari dell’amministrazione Bush” (da Wikipedia). Ha conosciuto Trump a metà degli anni Duemila e la loro amicizia si è consolidata sempre più.

Lauder attualmente è il presidente del World Jewish Congress. Da sempre appassionato di politica, nel 1989 cerca di diventare sindaco di New York, sfidando Rudy Giuliani, ma perde. Nel 1998 affianca il primo ministro israeliano Benjamin Netanyahu per provare a ricomporre le tensioni con la Siria di Hafez al Assad. I negoziati proseguono anche dopo l’elezione in Israele di Ehud Barak. Lauder fa parte di molte organizzazioni che sostengono Israele, come l’Anti-Defamation League e il Congresso mondiale ebraico.

Ma Lauder e Adelson, le cui biografie possono sembrare così simili, danno in realtà consigli diversi al presidente. Adelson rappresenta la linea più oltranzista della comunità ebraica americana e ritiene che la creazione di uno Stato palestinese possa sarebbe un boomerang per Israele. Il Jerusalem Post parla addirittura di “catastrofe” per lo Stato ebraico. Lauder, invece, è amico del presidente palestinese Mahmud Abbas, tanto che durante il suo viaggio negli Stati Uniti, il leader arabo avrebbe cenato a casa del miliardario. Nota, con un pizzico di malizia, il Jerusalem Post: “Personaggi degni di nota presenti alla cena: rappresentanti dell’amministrazione Trump. Personaggi degni di nota assenti: qualsiasi rappresentante dell’ambasciata israeliana”.

Trump avrebbe così a disposizione due diverse posizioni – diametralmente opposte – con le quali confrontarsi. E ciò, forse, spiega anche la doppia anima della nuova politica della Casa Bianca in Medio Oriente.
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