U.S. President Joe Biden’s choice to halt offensive military transfers to the Jewish state out of opposition to a ground invasion by the Israeli Defense Forces into Rafah to defeat Hamas has earned praise from his party’s left-wing while rankling pro-Israel Democrats, including a longtime top funder.
Israeli American Haim Saban, the entertainment entrepreneur, has called for a change of course in the policy, emailing Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, and senior advisor Anita Dunn.
“We, the U.S., as you stated numerous times, believe that Hamas should be defeated,” he wrote. “We, the U.S., in this case, you Mr. President, have decided to stop sending munitions to Israel to achieve a goal that we/you have set up for Israel and ourselves.”
Saban stated that “even beyond Israel, this sends a terrible message to our allies in the region, and beyond that, we can flip from doing the right thing to bending to political pressure.”
The billionaire creator of the “Power Rangers” franchise reminded Dunn and Ricchetti that “let’s not forget that there are more Jewish voters, who care about Israel, than Muslim voters that care about Hamas.”
Saban labeled the weapons halt a “bad, bad, bad decision on all levels” and urged that the administration “please reconsider.”
James J. Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute, called Saban “a pathetic bully.”
Zogby wrote that Saban “is used to getting his way and when he doesn’t, he makes bigoted threats. He did it in 2017 threatening that Jews would withhold support if the DNC elected Keith Ellison as chair. Now he’s threatening Biden with a loss of Jewish votes.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, whose leader Nihad Awad celebrated Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, accused Saban of writing an “anti-Muslim email” and demanded the Biden administration cut ties.
At a fundraiser for Biden’s campaign in February, Saban assisted in raising $4.5 million.