Who Is Israel Backing For President… Of The United States?

Hillary and her Israeli controller, Haim

Israel covers its bases. Two dual citizens, both billionaires, GOP mobster Sheldon Adelson and Democratic media magnate Haim Saban help finance both party establishments. Whoever wins, Israel has a friend in the Washington-- or, more appropriately, many, many friends. Adelson and Saban and their wives have shelled out tens of millions of dollars of dollars each for their "teams." This kind of undue influence over national security from a foreign state should be strictly illegal and Adelson and Saban should be-- but will certainly never be-- investigated for bribery (for starters).

Friday, Israel's biggest daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, which generally publishes a moderate perspective and does not follow Netanyahu's far right line, announced that Saban is all-in for Hillary Clinton. That's not exactly news, since Saban has helped finance the Clinton machine for years and has been uncomfortable with Obama and his slightly less subservient posture towards Israel. He put up the dough for the controversial Hillary movie that features international figures including Netanyahu singing her praises.

“I hope she will run. She would be a wonderful president,” said Saban, who gave $1 million last year to a super PAC that raised money for Priorities USA and other groups. Priorities backed Obama in 2012 and is in the process of morphing into a pro-Clinton endeavor.

“If it happens, we will of course pitch in with full might,” Saban added. “Seeing her in the White House is a big dream of mine.”

Saban’s comments about Vice President Joe Biden were also noteworthy.

“I think that if Vice President Biden decides to run, Obama will stay neutral, but if Biden does not run and she does, he will support her,” Saban said. “The general feeling is that Hillary is Obama’s natural successor.”

Biden has made clear he wants to be taken seriously as a potential 2016 hopeful, but he was was depicted in the 2012 retrospective Double Down as a nuisance to Obama’s aides, who engaged in loose talk about replacing him on the ticket with Clinton.

The early signal from Saban is a reminder that Clinton will have plenty of outside cash to help her in a potential campaign. And unlike Obama, who had an uncomfortable relationship with Priorities USA that kept a number of donors at bay, the Clintons have historically had no such worry. Bill Clinton provided a major boost to Priorities in mid-2012 at a time when it was struggling.

As for Biden, the question of whether Obama campaign manager Jim Messina will join Priorities USA has been delayed, according to multiple sources, because of the dust-up over Double Down. The central figure in that episode was former White House chief of staff William Daley, and Obama has said he himself never considered such a thing, but the information in the book has left a bad taste in the mouths of Biden allies.

Presumably we'll find out which Republican the Israeli right is supporting from Adelson's trashy giveaway, Israel HaYom. So far this year, Adelson hasn't announced which GOP candidate he'll be supporting. He's been demanding tough statements that favor bombing Iran-- the basic Israeli position, as usual-- and he and the wife have handed out around $200,000, mostly to the local congressman he owns, Joe Heck, and to the NRCC (around $65,000) and the RNC (around $100,000).

Best bet: Chris Christie