Three major U.S. power figures are linked to the charity run out of a 6th Avenue fabric store that is sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to settler militias in the West Bank: James Tisch, the ceo of Loews, Michael Milken the banker/philanthropist, and Alan C. (Ace) Greenberg, the former ceo of Bear Stearns.
The three men are named in a long list of apparent donors to the Central Fund for Israel that the fund attached to its 2004 federal filing as a 501(c)3 charity. CFI gives a lot of money to humanitarian causes and to schooling in the illegal settlements, but a good portion of the $8 million it raised on its last statement goes to meeting the "urgent security needs" of West Bank settlers. We can't say just what the James and [wife] Merryl Tisch foundation, Milken's foundation, and Ace Greenberg are doing for CFI. But they're on CFI's federal filing. So are several local Jewish federations, the principal body of fundraising for Israel in the Jewish community; Aish Ha'torah, which was behind the anti-Islam Obsession video given out in the presidential campaign; and the Zionist Organization of America.
A few months back Jeffrey Goldberg wrote a J'accuse in the Times aimed at rich Jews giving money to fund the settlements. He didn't name names and he made these guys out to be a shadowy network behind the gates of Boca Raton country clubs. The truth is that the settlements have drawn on support from the heart and soul of the American Jewish leadership. That's why Barack Obama was very quiet about settlements during the recent presidential campaign. He wanted to do nothing to alienate important donors to the Democratic Party, many of whom probably share Tisch, Milken and Greenberg's feelings about Israel. But as Jeffrey Goldberg has said, it's time to have this issue out: which side are you on?
It needs to be emphasized: these men are not outliers. Ace Greenberg was on Charlie Rose recently, talking about dog breeding and other delights. Here's a piece on his recent trip to Washington to the Jewish Federation, for whom he raises millions. Another apparent donor to CFI is the Alan B. Slifka Foundation. Slifka is highly presentable. A big philanthropist/Ethical Culture/Yale grad he is known for coexistence type stuff– he set up a center for communal coexistence at Brandeis. A Harvard Business School grad, he set up the Abraham Fund.
In short, the Jewish establishment is deeply implicated in the illegal settlements. CFI, with whom these guys are linked, is run by a guy who says the two-state solution is a threat to Israel's existence. Where do Milken, Slifka, Tisch and Greenberg stand?
–Phil Weiss and Adam Horowitz
