Casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson has offered to fund some of building the U.S. Embassy in Israel’s actual capital of Jerusalem— and the Trump administration is considering taking him up on it.
State Department attorneys are researching the legality of accepting a private donation for such a purpose. The Department is planning to hold a ribbon-cutting for a temporary embassy in Israel’s capital May 14, the 70th anniversary of the creation of Israeli state.
The attorneys are mulling one possibility of soliciting not just donations from Adelson, but also from other donors of the Christian and American Jewish communities.
President Trump’s decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is highly controversial, even among the State Department, despite the fact that the relocation is mandated by U.S. law passed several administrations ago.
Adelson, who built the Las Vegas Sands casino empire, is a major contributor to the Republican Party, and especially of Donald Trump. He contributed $5 million to the president’s inaugural committee.
