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(JTA) – WhatsApp founder Jan Koum has turn into the most important particular person donor to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s marketing campaign committee, spending $2 million to help AIPAC’s involvement on this 12 months’s Democratic primaries.
The large donation made in June and revealed earlier this week in a launch by the Federal Election Fee marks a debut on the planet of pro-Israel marketing campaign finance for Koum, a Ukrainian-born Jew with an estimated fortune of $10 billion or extra.
Beforehand, the most important sums given to AIPAC’s tremendous PAC, often called the United Democracy Venture, have been $1 million donations from Haim Saban, Paul Singer and Bernard Marcus.
The publicity-shy Koum has stored a low public profile in recent times following his sale of WhatsApp to Fb in 2014 in a $22 billion deal and subsequent departure in 2018 from his management function on the merged firms. Latest reporting by the Jewish Telegraphic Company has proven that Koum has spent his retirement from tech constructing a charitable basis dedicated to Jewish causes.
With some $140 million in donations to about 70 teams in 2019-2020, Koum has quietly turn into one of many largest donors on the planet of Jewish philanthropy.
Koum’s giving displays a right-wing and pro-Israel worldview, with vital donations to Buddies of the Israel Protection Forces, Israel on Campus Coalition and the Maccabee Job Power Basis, a bunch based by Sheldon Adelson aiming to fight anti-Israel sentiment on school campuses. He has additionally donated $6 million to the American fundraising arm of Elad, a bunch attempting to increase Jewish settlement in elements of largely Arab East Jerusalem, and $175,000 to the Central Fund of Israel. a bunch that distributes donations from america to settler teams within the West Financial institution.
AIPAC’s United Democracy Venture has to this point spent some $21 million on Democratic major campaigns aiming to bolster pro-Israel candidates working for Congress, usually in opposition to candidates who’ve expressed criticism of Israel.
The pro-Israel lobbying group claimed its most up-to-date victory this week when the candidate it backed within the major for Maryland’s 4th Congressional district received. The tremendous PAC had spent practically $6 million to help Glenn Ivey over the extra progressive Donna Edwards.
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