The Americans who have bought Israel's Prime Minister

Buzzfeed 1) and The Independent 2) on the American families funding Netanyahu’s campaign for re-election. 3) Haaretz in 2012 reported on the Falic family’s donations (helped by Joshua Rowe, chairman of governors, King David’s school, Manchester).

Nily Falic, mother of the Falic brothers, chairman of Friends of the Israel Defence Forces. The IDF has stated that the FIDF’s most important role is in improving the image of Israel and the IDF internationally.

These Three American Families Are Funding Half Of Netanyahu’s Re-Election Bid

More than 90% of the Israeli prime minister’s campaign money comes from the United States, according to records published by Israel’s State Comptroller Office. “Why get money from Israel when you can get it from the U.S.?”

By Sheera Frenkel, BuzzFeed News
January 6, 2015

TEL AVIV — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kicked off his re-election campaign Monday night with all the fanfare expected of the second longest serving PM in the country’s history.

The darkened room with flashing lights and pumping techno music looked more like a club than a political event, and Likud Party activists danced with the assurance that their party leader would, once again, be prime minister.

“Thank you, rich Americans!” said Yonatan Benizri, a 27-year-old Likud activist. “The rest of the parties are still scrambling and Netanyahu has a party.”

As Netanyahu kicked off his campaign, records from Israel’s State Comptroller Office showed he had raised just over 1 million shekels (roughly $250,000), with more than 90% of it coming from donors in the United States.

“It’s nothing new,” said Benizri, who volunteers with the Likud in the Tel Aviv area. “Why get money from Israel when you can get it from the U.S.?”

Over Netanyahu’s last three elections, publicly available records show that he has consistently received over 90% of his campaign contributions from the United States, with a majority of the money coming from just a handful of families in California and Florida.

The vastly wealthy Falic family of Florida, owners of the Duty Free Americas airport shops as well as several high-end fashion brands, have been one of the most consistent donors to Netanyahu’s campaign. Four members of that family were Netanyahu’s top contributors, with each giving close to the maximum of $11,500 per donor. Closely following them were the Book family of New Jersey, owners of Jet Support Systems, with four members each contributing $11,000 each, and the Schottenstein family, owners of the American Eagle fashion chain, whose four members donated $10,000 each.

Altogether, those three families account for just over half of Netanyahu’s campaign contributions. The families did not respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment.

“He doesn’t even have to ask and they give,” said one Likud Party campaign adviser, who asked not be named as he was not approved to speak to the media. “Their pocketbooks are always open for Netanyahu.”

The adviser said it freed up time for Netanyahu, who did not have to make the rounds at formal events and dinners to collect donations.

“There is a well-established network in the U.S. through the group American Friends of the Likud, which is connected to people who care about Israel and its future,” said the adviser.

That group has led several trips for Israeli Likud politicians to Washington, D.C., where they can fundraise and network with pro-Israel groups. Several of the Likud’s top politicians, including Danny Danon, Interior Minister Gilad Erdan, and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, also rely heavily on U.S. donors.

Sheera Frenkel is a Middle East correspondent for BuzzFeed News.

The Facebook page of American Friends of Likud which channels money to Netanyahu.

Meet the three American families bank-rolling Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu

By Andrew Buncombe, The Independent
January 08, 2015

More than 90 per cent of the recent campaign contributions collected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came from the US, official records show. In previous campaigns, around half of his campaign funding has come from just three American families.

Mr Netanyahu last week easily won his Likud Party’s election to select a prime ministerial candidate – easily overcoming his nearest challenger, former deputy defence minister Danny Danon. The 65-year-old Mr Netanyahu is now gearing up for the general election, due to be held on March 17.

Records from Israel’s State Comptroller Office and collated by Buzzfeed.com show that Mr Netanyahu raised around 1m shekels (roughly £166,000), for his primary campaign. Around 90 per cent of this came from the US.

Public records show this fits with previous elections campaigns. In the past, almost half of his funding has come from three American families – the Falic family of Florida which owns the Duty Free Americas airport shops, the Schottenstein family, owners of the American Eagle Outfitters fashion chain, and the Book family of New Jersey, owners of Jet Support Systems.

“Thank you, rich Americans,” said Yonatan Benizri, a 27-year-old Likud Party activist recently told Buzzfeed. “Why get money from Israel when you can get it from the US?”

Reports say US money to the campaign of the thrice-elected Mr Netanyahu is channelled via the American Friends of Likud group. The group, which has its headquarters in New York, failed to respond to inquiries, as did the main offices of Mr Netanyahu’s Likud Party in Israel.

The data shows that the members of the Falic family of Florida have been among the most consistent donors to Mr Netanyahu’s campaign. Four members of that family were his top contributors, with each giving close to the maximum of $11,500 per donor. Closely following them were the Book family of New Jersey, with four members each contributing $11,000. Four members of the Schottenstein gave $10,000 each.

The three families failed to respond to inquiries made on Thursday.

Duty Free Americas is the US’s largest operator of duty-free shops at airports
The foreign funding of elections is a controversial issue in Israel and contributions are not permitted for the general election campaign. Ilan Peleg, a professor at Lafayette College, Pennsylvania, and a scholar at the Middle East Institute in Wasington DC, said “This has been going on for a number of years.”

Menachem Hofnung, the Herbert Samuel Professor of Political Science at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told The Independent that Mr Netanyahu had worked hard to maintain a network of supporters in the US over the past 25 years. “Israel allows donations for the primaries, but not for the national election,” he said.

A recent poll suggested Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party had pulled ahead of the centre-left coalition formed by Labour leader Isaac Herzog and Hatnua head Tzipi Livni for the first time since the opposition alliance was formed. According to a survey conducted by TNS, Likud would receive 25 projected seats, while Labour-Livni were on 24. Bayit Yehudi is the third largest party with 15 seats.

The Falics:

Brothers Leon, Simon and Jerome Falic purchased what is now Duty Free Americas, Inc, the largest duty-free operator in the United States, in 2001. The brothers also own the French fashion design house Christian Lacroix and the license to distribute Perry Ellis brand fragrances and cosmetics. Their mother, Nily Falic, is the chair of Friends of the Israeli Defence Force, a New York-based organisation that raises funds for the Israeli army. Simon Falic’s wife, Jana, is co-president of the Women’s International Zionist Organistion, Israel’s largest non-governmental service provider. The three Falic brothers and 12 of their family members have made 682 political donations to politicians including ranging from Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Eric Cantor and Charles Schumer, according to the JTA.org website. All four politicians – three Republicans and one Democrat – have voiced strong support of Israel. In 2012, the Falics donated $45,000 to Mr Netanyahu’s campaign.

The Schottensteins:

For three generations, the Schottenstein family of Columbus, Ohio, has ruled over a retailing empire that includes brands such as American Eagle Outfitters and DSW shoes. The family firm began in 1917, when the family’s Lithuanian-born patriarch Ephraim Schottenstein amassed enough money from selling goods out of a horse-drawn cart to open the first Schottenstein department store. Today, the company has more than 20,000 stores nationwide and is worth an estimated $3bn. In 2007, two sisters of Jay Schottenstein, the chairman of Schottenstein Stores Corp, sued him for improper use of family trust funds. Mr Schottenstein, who has denied the allegations, is also a well-known corporate executive who was once nominated to be one of Time’s 100 most influential people by Ohio basketball star LeBron James. The non-profit Saul Schottenstein Foundation awards grants to dozens of Jewish organisations.

The Books:

The Book family heads Jet Support Systems, Inc., the largest aircraft maintenance company in the world. Company chairman Robert Book is also the chairman of his own private equity firm and the Franklin Mint, a private mint in Philadelphia that produces collectible coins and medallions. In 1998, the Franklin Mint was sued by the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund which alleged it had produced Diana merchandise without a proper license. Eventually the matter was settled out of court with the fund paying $21.5mn (£14.2m) to charitable causes.

(Left to right) International Bancshares Corporation Chairman Dennis Nixon, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, and Simon Falic.

One U.S. family is responsible for half of Netanyahu’s donations

Owners of Duty Free America, a large chain of duty-free shops that operates in 13 airports, pledged half of NIS 330,000 Netanyahu raised.

By Ophir Bar-Zohar. Haaretz
January 16, 2012

Members of a single American family have donated half of the NIS 330,000 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has raised for his Likud party primary campaign in the past few weeks. Four members of the Falic family from Florida are responsible for contributing some NIS 165,000.

Of the nine donors that appear on the political contributions page on the state comptroller’s website, seven gave over NIS 41,000 – very close to the maximum of NIS 43,280 that individuals are allowed to donate. Several of the donors have been mentioned in Channel 10’s “Bibitours” investigative reports, according to which the prime minister may have allowed donors to finance his trips abroad, and allegedly billed a trip to two different sources.

In April, Netanyahu and his wife Sara filed an NIS-3.5 million libel suit against Channel 10 over the reports.

The most prominent name among the prime minister’s donors is that of the Falics, a well-known family that owns Duty Free Americas, a large chain of duty-free shops that operates in 13 airports and along the United States’ northern and southern borders. At one point, the family also owned the Christian Lacroix fashion house.

Nily Falic is the national president of the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces in the United States; another family member, Jana Falic, is president of WIZO-USA.

The family members who contributed to Netanyahu were Nily’s husband, Chaim, who passed away earlier this month; their son, Leon; another son, Jerome; and her daughter, Jana, along with her husband Simon. Each of them donated $11,000.

The Falics have contributed to Netanyahu before, giving him $15,000 in 2005. During previous primaries, the family also donated money to Limor Livnat and Shaul Mofaz.

The family has also become involved in U.S. elections, and in recent years has donated a total of more than $100,000 to various candidates, both Republicans and Democrats.

The Falic family was mentioned in one of the Channel 10 Bibitours investigations as a Netanyahu donor who had not been reported to the state comptroller. Netanyahu’s lawyer said after the broadcast aired that some $15,000 had been returned to the family.

Joshua Rowe, chairman of governors at Manchester’s King David School. In 2013 the Jewish Chronicle reported that he had published a 13-page handbook of information for Israel advocates in an attempt to improve the British public’s view of the country.He plans to give it away free to school pupils and students who want to learn more about Israel.

Among the other recent donors to Netanyahu’s campaign is Joshua Rowe of Britain, who contributed 7,000 pounds, more than NIS 41,000. Rowe, the main funder and board chairman of the King David School in Manchester, gave NIS 38,000 to Netanyahu in 2007 and $8,000 in 2005.

Rowe was mentioned as funding a visit to London by the Netanyahus in 2006, when Netanyahu was the opposition leader – a trip whose total cost was reported to have been NIS 131,000.

Rowe subsequently defended Netanyahu, saying he had paid 15,000 pounds for the couple’s hotel suite, and adding that Netanyahu had been very active during the trip, giving media interviews and raising money for Israel Bonds.

Another donation of $11,000 recently came from Nira Abramowitz who, together with husband Kenneth, sponsor the annual Israel Media Criticism Prize, which carries a cash award of $5,000. Winners have tended to be from the right side of the political spectrum, and have included the Latma website, Caroline Glick, Haggai Segal, Ben-Dror Yemini and others.

The other donors on the short list are Munik Rechtshafen from New York, Barry Ness of New York, and Ze’ev Gertler of London.

Netanyahu’s rival in the Likud primary, Moshe Feiglin, has raised some NIS 155,000. A survey of Feiglin’s donors shows enormous differences between the two: While Netanyahu has a list of relatively few foreign donors who have been contributing large sums – Feiglin’s donors are mostly Israelis from Jerusalem, Haifa and Beit Shemesh whose contributions were far smaller, a few hundred shekels at most.

Haaretz could not obtain a response from Likud by press time.