How Miriam Adelson took over her late husband’s empire

Israel’s richest woman has issued demands to the government, is being wooed by Republicans and oversaw a revolution at her newspaper. But questions remain

THE FORMATION OF the Bennett-Lapid government was one of the most dramatic events of the past year in Israel, with the multiparty coalition coming under pressure from all sides.

But that pressure also came from an unexpected source, after it emerged that one coalition agreement called for the Birthright project – which offers young Jewish adults free trips to Israel – to switch from being under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office to the Diaspora Affairs Ministry headed by a left-winger, Nachman Shai.

As Haaretz reported last August, representatives of the Adelson family pressured Naftali Bennett to stop the move.

Miriam Adelson is currently Birthright’s main donor and it was Adelson herself who pressured Bennett on the issue, Haaretz can reveal.

According to Shai, he hadn’t spoken to the widow of Sheldon Adelson previously, but did so at Bennett’s request. The conversation lasted for an hour and was cordial, he says.

“She told me that in another year, they need to decide whether to continue donating to the project and That, from the standpoint of Birthright’s donors – essentially her and a few other small contributors – it’s important that Birthright remain under the Prime Minister’s Office.

“I understood that this could harm the project, and I didn’t want it on my conscience that the project would lack donors. Once it was made clear that I would be chairman of Birthright’s steering committee, I agreed to the request, because I understood that I’d be able to influence the project even without it being formally transferred to me.”

FULL STORY Sheldon who? How Miriam Adelson took over her late husband’s empire (Haaretz)

Illustration: Doron Flamm