Some major Biden donors growing dissatisfied with his criticism of Israel

A recent CNN poll of adults showed that 71% disapprove of his handling of the war in Gaza, including 81% of adults 18-34 years old.

Published: May 11, 2024 12:59pm

Updated: May 11, 2024 1:38pm

As President Joe Biden walks a fine line by calling his support for Israel “unshakable” white criticizing its war conduct and pausing weapons deliveries, some of his campaign’s largest pro-Israel donors are ramping up criticism of him.

Most notably this week was the message from Israeli American Haim Saban, a Democratic megadonor who emailed senior White House officials Wednesday asking them to let Biden know of his criticism of the move to pause shipments of bombs to Israel, according to Axios.

"Bad, Bad, Bad, decision, on all levels, Pls reconsider," he wrote, adding: "Let's not forget that there are more Jewish voters, who care about Israel, than Muslim voters that care about Hamas."

The Biden campaign did not publicly respond.

In February, Saban threw a fundraiser for Biden's re-election bid at his home in Los Angeles.

"Biden cares deeply about Israel, it's in his kishkes," Saban said at the time after having a private conversation with him.

With a growing number of Democrat voters turning against Israel, Biden appears to be having trouble navigating the situation. A recent CNN poll of adults showed that 71% disapprove of his handling of the war in Gaza, including 81% of adults 18-34 years old.

Other influential pro-Israel donors besides Saban have become more critical of Biden as well.

Mark Mellman, head of the Democratic Majority for Israel, told Axios that "there has never been a president more pro-Israel than Joe Biden but at the same time we are very concerned about what appears to be a significant shift in US policy."

He added, according to Axios, that "There are a lot of people in the pro-Israel community who are very worried, very upset and very angry."

"We don't know what the consequences are going to be politically."

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