'Bad, bad, bad,': Major Israeli-American Biden donor criticizes US threat to halt weapons

A major donor to President Joe Biden's reelection campaign has criticized his handling of the weapons shipments to Israel, calling it a "Bad, bad, bad, decision, on all levels" in a text published online on Thursday.

Haim Saban is an Israeli-American billionaire and long-time supporter of Israel and Jewish political causes and has been a consistent donor to the Democratic party since the 1990s.

Democratic mega-donor Haim Saban wrote an email to Biden's aides Steve Ricchetti & Anita Dunn about Biden's decision to put on hold a weapons shipment to Israel: "Let's not forget there are more Jewish voters who care about Israel than Muslim voters who care about Hamas" pic.twitter.com/HdeI9iOL3W

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) May 9, 2024

Saban criticized Biden's threat to halt arms shipments to Israel. He asked Biden whether his actions were consistent with the belief that Hamas should be defeated and whether this sent the best message to other US allies in the region.

"This sends a terrible message to our allies in the region, and beyond that, [that] we can flip from doing the right t[h]ing to bending to political pressure."

He then reminded Biden that "There are more Jewish voters who care about Israel than Muslim voters that care about Hamas."

Biden threatened to halt arms shipments to Israel due to Israel's push to invade Rafah, telling CNN, "If they [Israel] go into Rafah… I’m not supplying the weapons that have historically been used to."

One shipment has already been stopped due to the US administration's concern over the invasion of Rafah, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a Senate committee.

Who is Haim Saban?

Saban was born in Egypt and made aliyah with his family in 1956. He fought in both the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War.

From here, Saban began playing in a band, finding mild success. His rise in the business world came when he and his production company created several iconic 80s children's TV show theme songs, including He-Man, She-Ra, and Inspector Gadget.

His company, Saban Entertainment, grew and would go on to produce more iconic TV shows such as Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers, the company would later merge and form fox Kids Worldwide.

Saban has been a major supporter of pro-Israel causes in the US for decades, having donated to major Democratic campaigns like the 2000 Presidential Election when he was the largest donor to the Democratic National Committee in the 2001-2002 cycle.

After the October 7 attacks, he signed messages of support for Israel along with other major figures in the entertainment industry.