Univision owner Haim Saban told Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign they needed to “differentiate” themselves from President Barack Obama on Israel so they wouldn’t lose Jewish support to Republicans.
“She needs to differentiate herself from Obama on Israel,” Saban, an Israeli-American, wrote in a June 2015 email to Clinton campaign staffers, including Huma Abedin, Robby Mook and John Podesta.
“It can easily be done w/o criticizing the President,and this so that she can recapture the 11% lost between 2012 and 1992,” Saban wrote.
“We addressed this in our meeting yesterday,” he wrote, listing off policy position for Clinton, “speak strongly against anti-Semitism, and boycott.. reaffirm the US commitment to Israel’s security… anything else your research tells you the Jewish community is sensitive to.”
“This is NOT a NY or California issue,,,,it is a Florida one. Pls LMK how I can help here,” he wrote.
Saban then sent a quote from Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who was at the time seeking his party’s presidential nomination, on his support for Israel. Rubio promised to “do whatever it takes to help the people of Israel survive and prosper as a Jewish state” is elected president.
“Let’s not allow them to steal the Jewish vote from us,” Saban cautioned.
Saban’s worries have probably subsided a bit since then as Rubio was defeated by real estate mogul Donald Trump in the Republican contest. Saban is a major Democratic donor and huge backer of pro-Israel efforts in the U.S.
Saban’s email was just one of thousands leaked by the website WikiLeaks from Podesta’s hacked Gmail account.
Emails show Saban also urged the Clinton campaign to more aggressively attack Trump for his comments about illegal immigrants being “rapists,” according to Politico.
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