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The Intercept
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Intercept
Birthright Is Booming This Year. Here's How the Israeli Propaganda Trip Works.
Every year, Jewish American college students are offered a 10-day, all-expenses-paid trip to Israel with the Birthright Foundation. The closely curated tours take them across the country, from swimming in the Dead Sea to visiting the graves of soldiers who died fighting in Gaza, all accompanied by their peers in the Israeli military. This summer marks the 25th anniversary of the program — and despite Israel's ongoing bombing, starvation, and shooting of Palestinians in Gaza, it's touted to be the biggest cohort yet. Thirty-thousand Americans, aged 18 to 26, are slated to travel to Israel for free this summer, with the cost of their $5,000 trip underwritten by the nonprofit organization. Birthright claims it is 'pluralistic, inclusive, and does not endorse any ideological, party, or religious line.' But the organization receives 27 percent of its funding from the Israeli government and the rest largely from right-wing donors. The top backer is the billionaire Adelson family, who were among President Donald Trump's biggest donors. The trips include lectures on geopolitics, history, and advocating for Israel. The Intercept obtained recordings from a Birthright trip in 2024 that makes its ideological mission clear. 'You hear people tell you that the Palestinians are the indigenous people, but the Jews are the real indigenous people of this region,' said Ido Aharoni, a veteran Israeli diplomat, in a speech to the Birthright cohort last year in Jerusalem. 'Israel has many problems, but Chicago also has many problems, and New York City has many problems, and Israel's resilience will be tested.' And while the organization says it is apolitical, it has been found to have a big impact on its participants, in bringing them closer to Israel and discounting the Palestinian experience. A study published in May by Brandeis University and funded by Birthright found that last year's cohort are 'much more connected to Israel, and much more likely to identify with the political right.' Birthright participants were also 'more likely to provide a counterargument to claims that Israel is committing genocide' after the trip. This finding comes as younger Jewish Americans become more skeptical of Israel than their parents or grandparents. A study by the Pew Research Center last year found that younger adults tend to express much more negative attitudes toward Israel than older Americans do. Jewish adults under 35 were divided over Israel's military response to October 7. Birthright is trying to stop that trend. While it still bills itself as a fun vacation — from swimming in the Dead Sea, going to nightclubs, and visiting markets in Tel Aviv — since October 7, 2023, it has been taking tours on sites associated with the devastation of Hamas's attack. Last year's trip included visits to a winery, yoga, rafting, and riding ATVs, according to an itinerary obtained by The Intercept, but also talks on international relations with former military chiefs, diplomats, and Birthright leadership. In all, according to recordings obtained by The Intercept, the speakers stress the importance of participants' responsibility in standing in solidarity with Israel. 'There's a reason I'm standing here. It's because Birthright is my partner in this, right?' said Aharoni in his speech to last year's cohort. 'I want you to understand something: Israel needs to invest in its reputation billions, not millions.' 'It's one of the most successful foreclosures, of imagination, of anything I've ever seen as a sociologist.' Sociologists argue that Birthright programs are incredibly effective. 'They had no sense of Palestinians, none whatsoever, 'said Judith Taylor, associate professor of sociology at the University of Toronto who previously conducted an independent study on Birthright participants' perceptions. 'It's one of the most successful foreclosures, of imagination, of anything I've ever seen as a sociologist.' Neither Birthright nor Aharoni responded to a request for comment. Birthright was only created relatively recently, just in time to capture the oldest of the millennial generation. In 1998, during his first term as prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu gave the first guarantee of Israeli government funding. Birthright was then founded in 1999 by two American billionaires, Michael Steinhardt and Charles Bronfman. Its foundation came 'out of a crisis in the Jewish world,' when Jews in the diaspora were drifting away from their heritage, traditions, and community, according to the organization. Since then, it has become the largest educational tourism organization in the world and taken over 900,000 people to Israel. For American Jews, it is a rite of passage: 70 percent of those on the trips have been from the U.S. Starting in 2016, college students could even earn academic credits by going on Birthright trips. Birthright has faced heavy criticism over the years, including sit-ins against its presentations at U.S. colleges and tour walk-offs, particularly by Jewish activists who have said the trips are akin to propaganda and contribute to the erasure of Palestinians and their experiences living under occupation. A big part of the trip is the exposure to Israeli soldiers who accompany the tours. In 2017, Netanyahu told thousands of students on Birthright that by coming to Israel 'you join the Israeli soldiers in helping secure Israel's future.' Sam Stein worked as a Birthright tour leader in 2016 and 2017 but has since become an activist working with Palestinian communities in the West Bank. He recalls how trip participants bonded with the soldiers. 'It's genius because it's really something that's just on autopilot,' Stein said. 'They talk to the participants about how much they love being in the army. And then we have a whole big crying thing when they leave.' Over the course of the trip, areas forcibly annexed by Israel are 'completely, completely normalized,' he said. 'You go to East Jerusalem, you go to the Old City, you go to the Golan Heights.' 'The common theme was that you come to identify with the Israeli soldiers.' Ella Ben Hagai, associate professor of psychology at California State University, Fullerton, had similar findings when she conducted an independent study on Birthright participants in 2018. 'The common theme was that you come to identify with the Israeli soldiers,' Hagai said. 'You realize, oh, the Israeli soldiers are my age, and they're just like me. They want to party, they want to dance, I get to make out with them sometimes.' Birthright's operations halted after October 7, 2023, but restarted again not long after, in January 2024. By then, the death toll in Gaza had surpassed 25,000. According to Birthright's New York nonprofit documents, it had a revenue of $85 million in 2023 and a record number of donors who piled in, in response to the attacks. As Birthright prepares for its biggest year yet, 800 Birthright alumni are slated to visit Israel in celebration of the organization's 25th anniversary this month. The organization has even launched a new app to connect its community. It will act as 'an educational and communal 'Iron Dome,'' according to Birthright's CEO Gidi Mark. 'A long-term strategic infrastructure that empowers our alumni and strengthens Jewish identity and resilience worldwide.' The Intercept obtained recordings of last year's tour from an American community organizer who went on a Birthright trip last June and requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation. They had worked on Palestinian solidarity campaigns and planned to volunteer in the West Bank after the trip to help protect communities from settler violence. 'I was curious about how the narrative was being framed in this moment,' they said. 'And then I got there, and it was so much more insane than I was prepared for. With Gaza, it was just said to be this place where terrorists are — and that Israel is the most moral army in the world.' The trip was jam-packed, from visits to Hostages Square, the plaza in Tel Aviv where families of Israelis taken hostage on October 7 are still camping out to demand their relatives' return, to the border of Gaza with a former Israeli lieutenant colonel, followed by visits to wineries and yoga sessions, with 'little reckoning,' they said. They took audio recordings and videos throughout the trip of the lectures and conversations. 'The last thing on my mind is guarantees for the Palestinian people in terms of their security,' their American trip leader said on a bus in one video clip viewed by The Intercept. 'I don't care right now. I really don't give a shit.' Other activities included a seminar on Israel advocacy, where armed settlers in the West Bank were referred to as 'local volunteers' for Israel, and videos of Arab fighters allegedly shouting 'death to Jews' were played, although the source questioned the Arabic translation. There was a tour of Mount Herzl, Israel's national cemetery, where respects were paid to lone soldiers, who had undertaken 'another kind of bravery to move from America and do it by choice,' the group leader said. In a talk by Aharoni, the Israeli diplomat, he talked about how to correctly, and incorrectly, take people on a tour of Israel, using American politicians as references. Jamaal Bowman, the former U.S. representative for New York who lost in 2024 in part due to pro-Israel lobbying against him, 'went exactly the other way,' Aharoni said. 'Instead of doing what we did with Ritchie Torres, they took him to see the Palestinians and the West Bank, and he came back completely for Palestinians to the point he forgot that he's representing Americans in Congress.' At the end of the 10 days, the participants sat down to talk about their highlights of the trip. One said 'they gained a lot more respect for IDF soldiers' and realized they weren't 'older, big, scary beings.' Another said, 'It's going to be really interesting to go home and tell everybody that Israel seems, honestly, safer than the U.S.'
Forbes
02-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Richest Female Sports Team Owners 2025
Chaos in the public markets over the past year has taken a bite out of Miriam Adelson's fortune, dropping her net worth 3%. But the 79-year-old widow of former Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson can always count on her sports team. The Dallas Mavericks—the NBA franchise Miriam Adelson bought for $3.5 billion in 2023—are now worth $4.7 billion, according to Forbes estimates. And even in a down year for her Sands stock, Adelson is in no danger of relinquishing her crown as the richest female team owner in sports, with her estimated net worth of $29.4 billion heading up a list of 11 women collectively worth $85 billion. In fact, Adelson is worth more than the next three women in the ranking combined: Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty co-owner Clara Wu Tsai, who shares an $11.4 billion fortune with her husband, Alibaba cofounder Joe Tsai; Cleveland Browns and Columbus Crew co-owner Dee Haslam, worth $8.5 billion with her husband, former Pilot Flying J CEO Jimmy Haslam; and New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson, worth $7.1 billion. Among the more than 3,000 billionaires on Forbes' real-time billionaire ranking, roughly 400 are women. But only 11 are the control owner of a franchise in a major professional sports league. (Minority owners were excluded from this ranking, as were billionaires who are part of a team's ownership group but don't actually lead the club, such as New York Yankees co-owners Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal and Jessica Steinbrenner.) That small pool is growing, however, as increased interest in women's sports fuels a boom in popularity, sponsor interest and, ultimately, team values, enticing a new class of owner. Health care technology billionaire Michele Kang, No. 11 in the richest female owner ranking at $1.2 billion, says she knew nothing about soccer in 2020 when she first joined the cap table of the National Women's Soccer League's Washington Spirit, and now she owns three prominent women's clubs. Private equity mogul Lauren Leichtman (No. 10, $1.3 billion) followed Kang into NWSL ownership with her purchase of the San Diego Wave last year, and former Utah Jazz owner Gail Miller (No. 8, $4.6 billion) is back in the sports world after completing a $600 million deal in April for the NWSL's Utah Royals and MLS's Real Salt Lake. Of the 11 billionaire women in control of a sports team, seven can attribute their fortunes to inheritance or their spouses while four are self-made. Outside of Adelson and Tennessee Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk, who held steady, all saw their net worths increase year-over-year, with Leichtman and Kang first joining Forbes' billionaire list this year. The NFL is the most represented league among the female owners, with four teams. The NBA and the NWSL are close behind with three representatives each, followed by MLS and European women's soccer with two. England's Premier League, MLB, the NHL and the WNBA each have 79-year-old Adelson's tenure in charge of the Mavericks has gotten off to a bumpy start after the team, which is led on a day-to-day basis by her son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, traded superstar guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February. Redemption is in the air, however. Despite odds of just 1.8%, the Mavericks won this year's NBA draft lottery and are now in a position to draft Duke University phenom Cooper Flagg. Manny Carabel/Stringer/Getty images The 59-year-old Wu Tsai and her husband, Joe, took control of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center in 2019—the same year they bought the struggling New York Liberty from the Madison Square Garden Company. With Wu Tsai serving on the WNBA's board of governors, the Liberty have become one of the league's crown jewels, claiming their first championship in 2024 and recently selling off a minority stake at a reported $450 million valuation. Nick Cammett/The 70-year-old Haslam owes her fortune to truck stop chain Pilot Flying J, which her husband's father founded in 1958 and which was sold to Berkshire Hathaway for $13.6 billion across three deals in 2017, 2023 and 2024. In addition to control stakes in the NFL's Cleveland Browns and MLS's Columbus Crew that the Haslams bought in 2012 and 2019, respectively, they picked up a 25% piece of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks from Marc Lasry two years New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson died in 2018, his widow, Gayle Benson, inherited the teams, ultimately fending off a multiyear legal challenge from his daughter and grandchildren. With no heirs of her own, the 78-year-old Benson doesn't plan on keeping her stakes in the family. In 2021, she announced that both franchises would be sold after her death, with the proceeds donated to charities in the New Orleans area. Dave Reginek/Pool/Getty Images The 92-year-old Ilitch and her husband, Mike, who died in 2017, started Little Caesars Pizza in 1958 and bought the NHL's Detroit Red Wings in 1982 for $8 million. In the years since, only the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Edmonton Oilers have won more Stanley Cups than the Red Wings' four. Mike and Marian Ilitch added MLB's Detroit Tigers to their empire in 1992, and their son, Chris, leads the day-to-day operations of both franchises today. Cliff Welch/The San Francisco 49ers have been in the 74-year-old York's family for nearly 50 years. Her father, Edward Debartolo Sr., who died in 1994, bought the NFL franchise for $13 million in 1977. York took control from her brother in 2000, and she later tabbed her son, Jed York, as CEO. The family has also expanded its interests to English soccer, using the 49ers' investment arm to gradually take control of Leeds United, which earned its way back to the Premier League last month. Leslie Plaza Johnson/McNair's husband, Bob, sold power generator company Cogen Technologies to Enron for $1.5 billion in 1999 and rolled those proceeds into a $700 million expansion fee that brought the NFL's 32nd franchise to Houston for the 2002 season. When he died in 2018, Janice, now 88, inherited the Texans, and she passed operational control to her son, Cal, six years later. Rick Bowmer/Associated Press With her husband, Larry, who died in 2009, Miller turned a single Toyota dealership into the eighth-biggest auto dealer group in the U.S., selling the business to Asbury Automotive for $3.2 billion in 2021. The Millers were also the longtime owners of the Utah Jazz, buying the NBA club in 1986 for $22 million and selling it to Qualtrics billionaire Ryan Smith for $1.66 billion in 2020. This year, Gail Miller, 81, completed a deal to take control of the NWSL's Utah Royals and MLS's Real Salt Lake, and she and her family are leading a group of investors aiming to bring an MLB team to Salt Lake Strunk's father, the legendary Bud Adams, founded the Houston Oilers in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League, a decade before its official merger with the NFL. Adams relocated the franchise to Nashville and rebranded it as the Tennessee Titans in 1997, but his death in 2013 touched off a family legal battle. The 69-year-old Adams Strunk took control two years later and is now building the team a $2.1 billion stadium that is expected to open in 2027, with more than $1.2 billion in public married Arthur Levine in 1984, and five years later, they cofounded Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, a private equity firm that now has $11 billion in assets. She entered the sports business in 2024, buying the NWSL's San Diego Wave from supermarket billionaire Ron Burkle at a weighted valuation of $113 million. Forbes estimates the Wave are now worth $165 million, and the 75-year-old Leichtman recently brought on former U.S. women's national team and Wave superstar Alex Morgan as a minority investor in the franchise. Levon Biss for Forbes Kang kicked off the NWSL's valuation boom when she bought a majority stake in the Washington Spirit in 2022 for $35 million, then considered an astronomical price for a women's team. Now, the 65-year-old founder and former CEO of health care IT company Cognosante owns two other clubs as well: OL Lyonnes of France's Première Ligue and the London City Lionesses, recently promoted to England's Women's Super League. Her empire may expand again soon, with Kang eyeing a South American club. For the ranking of the richest female sports owners, Forbes considered control owners of franchises from seven North American sports leagues (MLB, MLS, the NBA, the NFL, the NHL, the NWSL and the WNBA), the 'big five' European men's soccer leagues (England's Premier League, France's Ligue 1, Germany's Bundesliga, Italy's Serie A and Spain's La Liga) and the top women's soccer leagues in the same five European nations (England's Women's Super League, France's Première Ligue, Germany's Frauen-Bundesliga, Italy's Serie A Femminile and Spain's Liga F). Minority owners of teams were not included unless they qualified under a control stake with a different franchise. Net worths are calculated as of May 2, 2025. In the cases of seven members of the list—Miriam Adelson, Clara Wu Tsai, Dee Haslam, Marian Ilitch, Denise York, Janice McNair and Gail Miller, as denoted by an asterisk—the net worth calculation includes family members' assets. No one-year change is listed for Lauren Leichtman and Michele Kang, who first joined Forbes' billionaire list this year.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Netanyahu criminal trial: Mozes' defense wraps up, cross-examination set to begin next week
Netanyahu's criminal trial wrapped on Wednesday, paving the way for the prosecution's cross-examination next week, which could be a major turning point in is image and legacy. The defense questioning phase of the direct examination in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's criminal trial wrapped on Wednesday, paving the way for the prosecution's cross-examination next week, which could be a massive turning point in the prime minister's image and legacy. On his 35th day of testimony at the Tel Aviv District Court on Wednesday, Netanyahu was questioned by Sharon Kleinman, the representative for Yediot Aharonot owner Arnon 'Noni' Mozes, the fourth figure charged in the indictment, along with Shaul and Iris Elovich. In the background of the trial was the marking of the 600th day since October 7, as 58 hostages are still being held in captivity by Hamas in Gaza. The relationship between Mozes and Netanyahu is the heart of Case 2000, one of the three levied against the prime minister. Allegedly, Mozes offered Netanyahu a bribe by proposing positive coverage of him and his family in the prominent daily and negative coverage of political opponents in exchange for the advancement of legislation that would force restrictions on Yediot's rival daily tabloid, Israel Hayom. The charges are based on recordings of conversations between the two, recorded by Netanyahu staffer-turned-state's-witness Ari Harow. Netanyahu was charged with fraud and breach of trust, while Mozes was charged with attempted bribery. Addressing the proposed legislation, which failed to pass into law, Netanyahu said he couldn't recall exactly when he first became aware of it. He also said he had nothing to do with the public relations campaigns against the Israel Hayom bill. Kleinman presented a strategic planning document relating to the law, which has Netanyahu's handwriting on it. In one area, it reads, 'Sheldon [Adelson, the late owner of Israel Hayom] – to the cover.' He then presented copies of the printed paper and its supplements in the coming days, which indeed had Adelson on the cover. Netanyahu insisted he had no recollection of discussing these details with Adelson in phone calls he had with him around that time. But he said that he wasn't shy about his attempts to halt the legislation. When it passed its first reading in the Knesset in 2014, Netanyahu said, 'I used a word then that was truly appropriate at the time, 'Shame!'' This was a loose reference to the rally cry issued today by protesters against the prime minister and the government. Kleinman noted, citing police interrogation transcripts, that Netanyahu told interrogators that he had expressed as much to Adelson himself. 'I am in favor of freedom of the press. I don't control what goes into a paper,' Netanyahu said. Kleinman pointed to a 'hostile' headline in Yediot as an example of what is claimed to have been negative coverage that Netanyahu allegedly sought to change and which relates to the attempted bribery charge. When Netanyahu insisted that the coverage was pointedly negative, Kleinman responded that the articles paint a different reality, one in which the coverage is professional: critical, yet portraying both the right- and left-wing angles. This, supposedly, is the bedrock of the drive behind the openness to a discussion with Mozes on the matter of shifting the coverage. 'Just because I didn't sue a news company for libel doesn't mean that I don't think the publications were fake! Channels 11, 12, and 13 lie all the time. A public figure does not have the time to chase after all these lies,' Netanyahu charged. Kleinman responded that the claim in this case, though, is that Netanyahu was allegedly concerned by a specific series of articles that were published, not a 'wide ocean of lies.' In one instance, Netanyahu addressed the judges, 'You wouldn't sit back if such lies were written about you, would you?' Lead Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman responded, 'Mr. Netanyahu, leave us out of this.' What this does for Mozes' defense is twofold: first, it calls into question Netanyahu's reliability as a witness. Second, it positions Yediot as a serious publication, one that covered news of the prime minister from both the Right and the Left but did so professionally, meaning that any conversations Mozes had with Netanyahu about coverage were within that framework, and so there was no attempted bribery. After receiving four sealed envelopes in the courtroom at around 12 p.m., Netanyahu asked for a break. This was right around the time of the confirmed Israeli strikes on Yemen's Sanaa International Airport, carried out in response to several Houthi ballistic missile attacks fired at Israel over the last week. Separately, a decision recently enforced by the court's guard does not allow questions directed at the prime minister while he is in the room and before the judges enter. This is common practice in any criminal trial. After a break on Wednesday, all journalists were forbidden from reentry until the hearing began anew. This came following a volley of questions directed toward the prime minister earlier that morning. Only a few journalists shouted questions, but all were forbidden from entry.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rejoicing and scrambling after casino company pulls out of Long Island project
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (PIX11) — After the main financial supporter of a casino at the Nassau Coliseum site on Long Island pulled out Wednesday evening, some local residents are rejoicing, and the withdrawal is becoming a major issue in the election for Nassau County executive. The Las Vegas Sands corporation had been the financial muscle behind a proposed casino, hospitality, and entertainment complex at the coliseum site. More Local News Plans to build the facility have been in the works for four years. The Sands organization has declined to comment regarding its withdrawal from the project, but the company is owned by the Adelson family, which has long-standing ties to President Donald Trump and donated $100 million to his 2024 presidential campaign. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has touted his own ties to the president and has strongly supported the casino plan for the coliseum. Blakeman has promised to provide information about a replacement casino operator within 30 days. Meanwhile, some community groups are chiming in on the changes. 'We are thrilled that Las Vegas Sands has walked away from this fight,' said Allison O'Brien Silva, a co-founder of the Say No to the Casino Civic Association. 'Good riddance,' said Monica Kiely, another co-founder of the group, which points out that it's made up of Republicans and Democrats. 'Any gambling operator who would buy out Las Vegas Sands from their failed casino bid here in Nassau County is foolish.' 'Why would somebody take this on when [Sands has] already backed out?' she added. Echoing that message was the Democratic Party challenger for county executive, Nassau County Legislator Seth Koslow. 'We're talking about trying to take a $6 billion project that we've been working on for four years, and that magically some new company is going to fruition in the next 30 days,' he said in an interview. 'It's not possible, it's not realistic.' He said that he'd work with Republicans to bring a development project to the coliseum site that would not include a casino. The State of New York has said that it intends to grant three licenses for casinos in the New York City metro area before the end of the year. Other locations in the region, including Coney Island, Citi Field, Hudson Yards, and Times Square, are also vying for licenses. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Business Times
24-04-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Las Vegas Sands drops out of contest to develop New York City area casino
[LOS ANGELES] Las Vegas Sands is dropping efforts to develop a New York casino, partly over concerns that online betting in the state would crimp results for a land-based property. The company announced the decision on a call with investors on Wednesday (Apr 23), saying it's in the process of seeking an agreement with a third party that's interested in bidding for a casino license on the proposed site. One of the world's biggest casino operators, Sands had proposed a project costing upward of US$5 billion at the site of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on New York's Long Island. Construction of such a project could take years. The company operates resorts in Macau and Singapore. The state is considering three new casinos in the New York City area, and numerous parties have expressed interest, including Caesars Entertainment, Wynn Resorts and Mets owner Steve Cohen. Applications are due in June, with a final decision expected by December, according to the New York State Gaming Facility Location Board. New York has become the top market for sports betting, most of which is done online. The state does not yet allow online wagers on casino games such as blackjack and slot machines. But results for land-based casinos have been hurt in states that do, such as Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The Adelson family, which controls Sands, acquired a majority of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and has been interested in a casino in Texas if that state were to legalise such betting. Earlier Wednesday, the company announced it is increasing authorised share repurchases to US$2 billion from the US$1.1 billion remaining under a previous plan. The company also reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of US$1.14 billion before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, in line with Wall Street estimates. Adjusted earnings per share were 59 US cents, compared with Wall Street estimates of 57 US cents. Revenue fell 3.3 per cent to US$2.86 billion. BLOOMBERG
