Israeli American Jewish billionaire Haim Saban, has come out and publicly, intensely criticized last month’s American abstention at the United Nations Security Council, along with the “one sided speech” by Secretary of State John Kerry that followed.
Saban is known for being a superdonor to the Democratic Party for decades and founder of the Brooking Institution’s annual Saban Forum, which each year draws the mega stars of international leadership, politics and diplomacy to its panels.
The Egyptian-born Democrat gave more than $12.5 million to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. But this week he warned the Obama administration to veto any further “biased UNSC resolutions that may be introduced” in Paris later this month.
Saban, who owns Univision, has been – if not the highest, then certainly one of the highest – individual donors to the Democratic Party in history, funding construction of the Democratic National Committee headquarters building in Washington DC to the tune of a $7 million personal contribution together with his wife Sheryl. The couple is known for their philanthropy to the Jewish State, and for having established the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, a public policy organization.
“As a longstanding Democrat who has supported and defended President Obama on his treatment of Israel throughout his presidency, I am deeply disturbed by the Administration’s decision not to veto UN Security Council Resolution 2334 and Secretary Kerry’s subsequent one sided speech. These actions undermine our country’s long-standing support for Israel and harm any long-term prospects for peace, which is in our national interest. Further, I urge the Obama Administration to stay true to our decades old policy by vetoing any additional biased UNSC resolutions that may be introduced at the Paris summit later this month, and refrain from issuing any other policy statements that would only make things worse. “Fostering the conditions for peace, security, and prosperity for both Israelis and Palestinians is a core American interest. In the months and years ahead, it is essential that the US — in its role as the only superpower today — take the necessary steps to maintain its credibility as an intermediary between the parties and work to advance a sustainable two-state solution, in which a Jewish, democratic State of Israel lives in peace and security alongside its neighbors or, until the conditions are ripe for peace, promote a separation between the two peoples.”
