Haim Saban

Haim Saban is the Democratic Party's most transparent single-issue donor — a man who openly declares that Israel is his only political concern, then backs it up with $100 million in career political giving. The Israeli-American media mogul who brought the Power Rangers to America has spent three decades building a bipartisan pro-Israel donor network that ensures U.S. support for Israel transcends party lines. Born in 1944 in Alexandria, Egypt, Saban grew up in Israel after his family was expelled during the 1956 Suez Crisis. He served in the Israeli Defense Forces, then pursued a career in entertainment, first as a music producer in France and then in the United States. His breakthrough came in 1993 when he adapted the Japanese tokusatsu show Super Sentai into Mighty Morphin Power Rangers — a global phenomenon that generated billions in merchandise and made Saban wealthy. He parlayed the Power Rangers fortune into a media empire, co-founding Fox Family Worldwide (sold to Disney for $5.2 billion in 2001) and Saban Capital Group. His net worth of $3.5 billion makes him one of the wealthiest Israeli Americans in the world. Saban's political philosophy is refreshingly honest. He once said: "I'm a one-issue guy, and my issue is Israel." He has funded Democratic candidates for three decades — most prominently Hillary Clinton, to whom he was the largest individual donor. He funded the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, embedding pro-Israel analysis in the most influential Democratic think tank. He hosts the annual Saban Forum, which brings together Israeli and American political leaders. His giving is strategically focused on ensuring that pro-Israel policy is not a Republican monopoly. While Miriam Adelson and Ron Lauder work the Republican side, Saban works the Democratic side — creating a bipartisan consensus that no politician in either party can challenge without risking their funding. This dual-approach strategy, involving coordinated Republican and Democratic donors, is one of the most effective lobbying operations in Washington. The contradiction: Saban champions Israel's democracy while funding politicians who may not support democratic rights for Palestinians. He advocates for a two-state solution publicly but funds candidates who often oppose concrete steps toward Palestinian statehood. And his media empire's global reach gives him influence beyond what his donation totals suggest.