Hong Kong gambler Bill Benter, a controversial supporter of causes many consider anti-Israel, is a funder of Media Matters for America, The Daily Caller has learned. “I have been a contributor to Media Matters for many years and am proud to support the important work that it does fighting for truth in media, working for more honest political discourse and promoting our shared progressive values,” Benter told TheDC in a statement.
...According to tax documents obtained by TheDC, the Media Matters Action Network paid [MJ] Rosenberg $129,568 in 2010, plus $4,505 in other compensation. That organization is one of Media Matters’ political arms. It is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
TheDC wasn’t able to independently confirm the source’s claim that Benter donated to Media Matters with the intent of endowing Rosenberg’s salary, and it appears that Benter contributed directly to the 501(c)(3) — not to its affiliated 501(c)(4) group.
When TheDC asked Benter’s intermediary, Matt Dorf of Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications, whether Benter was in any way involved in bringing Rosenberg on board, and whether Benter possibly solicited funds for Media Matters’ (c)(4) affiliate to help pay Rosenberg’s salary, Dorf said the latter question was “exactly the right question” and that he would ask Benter.
Dorf later replied that Benter would not be providing any further statement.
The question is relevant considering Benter’s involvement supporting J Street, a Washington lobby that bills itself as “pro-Israel, pro-peace” but in practice attracts left-wing supporters and has been called “a unique problem” by Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren. Attendees at J Street’s 2009 conference espoused radically anti-Israel views, including the idea that Israeli leaders should be tried for war crimes and that the Jewish state is largely responsible for its own predicament in the region.
Benter, who made his fortune betting on horse races in Hong Kong, became the center of public inquiry when it was discovered that he solicited an $811,697 donation to J Street from a mysterious Hong Kong donor named Consolacion Esdicul. At the time of Esdicul’s donation, it was J Street’s largest.
Esdicul, who lived in Hong Kong, had no known history donating to causes dealing with the Middle East. When her large contribution was revealed in September 2010, J Street said Esdicul made her donation at Benter’s direction.
...Benter will not say if he solicited funds for the Media Matters Action Network like he did for J Street. He also turned down TheDC’s request for a more in-depth interview about his worldview, only providing a generic statement.
“Much of my philanthropic activity over the past several years has focused on preventing war and creating peace through education, scholarship and advocacy, not only in the Middle East but around the world,” Benter’s statement read, after he confirmed that he was a Media Matters funder.
“I want to make it absolutely clear,” the statement continued, that “I would never support or condone anti-Semitism in any form.”
Rosenberg failed to respond to TheDC’s requests for an interview. Media Matters also did not respond to TheDC’s request for comment.
So, will you also gamble with Israel's future, its security, its Zionist ethos?
Will you go with euphemistic antisemitism?
Will you go with Jewish self-disgust?
Don't gamble.
Don't go down J Street.
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