Media Analysis

It sure looks like Trump and Adelson have cut a deal on annexation

Sheldon Adelson, the Israel-loving, Iran-war-craving casino baron, talks to Donald Trump all the time, and for good reason, he and wife Miriam are the biggest Republican donors, poised to give as much as $200 million this year. Now that the White House appears to be lying down for the Israeli government as it moves to annex portions of the West Bank despite a growing chorus of international condemnation, the focus should be on Adelson. He has always been a strong supporter of Israeli expansion, a man who says, “There’s no such thing as a Palestinian.”

So far, the Adelsons have gotten everything they’ve wanted from our transactional president: tearing up the Iran deal, moving the embassy to Jerusalem, defunding Palestinians, recognizing the Golan annexation, treating settlement expansion as legitimate, even a presidential medal of freedom for Miriam, etc. Right up to yesterday — a Trump attack on the ICC in the name of Israel. As Trump once said when a Republican rival was getting Adelson’s money, Adelson wanted a “perfect little puppet.”

Most important, the Adelsons got the Trump “peace plan,” which paves the way for annexation of the West Bank. When Trump announced his “vision,” there they were in the front row.

Sheldon and Miriam Adelson in the background, center left, applaud as Trump announces his peace plan with Netanyahu at his side, Jan. 28, 2020. Screenshot.

Especially if Trump loses in November, as appears more and more likely — this is the Adelsons’ last chance to get annexation. “They speak to Trump all the time,” Dan Raviv reported on i24 News.

Look at it from Trump’s point of view. He doesn’t care about peace in the Middle East or Palestinian human rights. He wants one thing, to win in November, and he needs money.

Why would the Adelsons risk $200 million on a loser? Well, because it’s not a losing cause; they get their payback now. They figure that Israeli annexation is permanent no matter what happens to Trump. “Facts on the ground” is the Israeli way of expansion. The embassy move will never be reversed by a Joe Biden. So let’s annex.

Today, Sheldon’s Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom is promoting annexation. “[A]nnexation is Israel’s right, and. . . it poses no threat to the interests of either the United States or the Jewish state.” That paper is an important rightwing voice in Israel, and the Adelsons have been big supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu. So they may also play a role in Netanyahu’s zeal to annex, when he had a lot of opportunities to dismiss that policy.

The Guardian said in February that insiders expect the Adelsons to donate between $100 and $200 million to Trump’s reelection hopes this year. If that seems like a big lift, look at their track record: The Adelsons gave more than $100 million to Republican causes in 2016 and another $123 million during the 2018 election cycle.

McClatchy reported last year that the Adelsons were putting off their big donations in 2020 until as late as possible, so as not to excite negative publicity.

And here’s another tell, as we say in poker. Sheldon Adelson is a funder and board member of the Republican Jewish Coalition; the RJC calls Trump the most pro-Israel president ever and, big coincidence, the RJC “is launching a lobbying effort on Capitol Hill to rally support for Israeli annexation,” according to Jewish Insider. Says the Guardian:

The RJC is chaired by the ex-senator Norm Coleman. . . who is said to have strong ties to Adelson that benefit the RJC and other Super Pacs and dark money outfits where Coleman is a big player.

Coleman helps lead fundraising for a Super Pac, the Congressional Leadership Fund, and a dark money outfit, the American Action Network, that respectively back Republican House members and their policies and have received seven-figure checks from the Adelsons in recent elections.

The Adelsons have seemed to have their way on annexation so far. Annexation of large parts of the West Bank are greenlighted in Trump’s deal of the century. Just look at this incredible map in the plan:

Map of the future Israeli state in the Trump administration plan.
Map of Israel alongside Palestinian “future state” in green, in the Trump administration plan. (Image: The White House)

The Adelsons wanted the plan out well ahead of the election, Dan Raviv of i24 said, so that Israel would be freed to set its own border this year before November comes and possibly limits its autonomy.

Which is to say, the Adelsons may be the most important actors in this entire foreign policy discussion. Maybe the media should be telling us more about them now. . .

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Three Videos re Sheldon Adelson: 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=6sCW4IasWXc
Short video, Oct. 25, 2013, discussion between rabid Zionists, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and Sheldon Adelson. Adelson declares – “Attack Iran with an atomic bomb”
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Detailed video on Sheldon Adelson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EayCLyuCFv8
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Sheldon Adelson convinced the Trump Administration to declare Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. This episode explains how:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EayCLyuCFv8
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Frankly, is there anything surprising here? Prior administrations, including Democratic ones did nothing that impeded, the settlement project. The Oslo process quickly revealed itself to be a sham. Trump moved the embassy to Jerusalem. He’s buddied up to Bibi at every opportunity, why would his administration oppose the annexation plans?
 

Israel’s purported “annexations” in fact injure the US and demonstrate disdain for international law. The Adelsons clearly want Israel to get rid of the Palestinians.

Of note:

 
“Why the UAE’s Unprecedented Annexation Warning to Israel Matters” by Seth Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post June 12/20 
 
EXCERPT:
“Israelis woke up to a potential new era on Friday with an article by the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the US warning that Israel’s planned annexation of parts of the West Bank would ‘upend Israeli aspirations for improved security, economic and cultural ties with the Arab world & with the UAE.’
“The message was titled ‘annexation of normalization.’ This is an unprecedented warning coming from a country that doesn’t have relations with Israel but where relations appeared to have unique potential.
“The article has several important ramifications, what follows are the top five.
 
“It comes from the US ambassador”
“The article by Yousef Al Otaiba comes from the UAE’s ambassador to the US. It was then tweeted, in Hebrew, by the director of strategic communications for the UAE, Hend al-Otaiba. This is important because Otaiba also attended the ‘deal of the century‘ announcement in the East Room of the White House in January. He also gave a statement in January that he appreciated US President Donald Trump’s efforts to reach a peace deal and that all concerned parties should reach a deal as part of a way forward.
“Hend al-Otaiba noted in her Hebrew tweet that the UAE & the Arab world have an opportunity today. However annexation is a bad sign & could scupper the huge potential for better relations. Here it is clear that this message from the UAE, via its key Washington ambassador, is a stern message….much more than just a comment from Abu Dhabi or warning…”

Adelson has caused too much damage to the peace process, how about boycotting Adelson’s casinos all around the world?