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U.S. Flow of Funds to Influence Israel Election Spurs ‘Foul’ Cry

by Calev Ben-David

5:00 PM EST February 8, 2015

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for a campaign meeting at a Jerusalem hotel on Feb. 8, 2015, ahead of the March 17 general elections. Photographer: Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images

(Bloomberg) -- In a Tel Aviv storefront, 84-year-old volunteer Zelda Harris is working the phones for the V15 group trying to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. U.S. billionaire S. Daniel Abraham, founder of Slim-Fast Foods Co., is helping to fund the effort.

Across the country, men and women in red jumpsuits hand out free copies of Israel Hayom, a pro-Netanyahu daily. The paper is financed by American gambling tycoon Sheldon Adelson.

Critics are concerned that cash from overseas donors will affect next month’s vote. “I would like to see foreign money out of Israeli politics,” said Hebrew University of Jerusalem political science Professor Menachem Hofnung. “Legally, it would be very difficult to do” because “you can’t stop people from funding certain ideas,” he said.