WhatsApp founder donates $2 million to AIPAC's Democratic primaries
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WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum donated $2 million to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) campaign committee, according to a report.
Jan Koum has thus become the largest individual donor to support AIPAC's involvement in this year's Democratic primaries, reports The Times of Israel.
AIPAC's United Democracy Project so far spent $21 million to support pro-Israel candidates running for Congress, and often against candidates who criticise Israel.
Koum is a Ukrainian-born Jew with an estimated fortune of $10 billion or more.
The massive donation made in June and revealed earlier this week in a release by the Federal Election Commission marks a debut in the world of pro-Israel campaign finance for Koum, the report said.
After the sale of WhatsApp to Facebook in 2014 and departure from its leadership role in 2018, Koum has kept a low public profile.
Recently, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that Koum spent his retirement, building a charitable foundation devoted to Jewish causes.
Donating $140 million to about 70 groups in 2019-2020, Koum became one of the largest donors of Jewish philanthropy.
Koum's right-wing and pro-Israel worldview is apparent after he made major donations to Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, Israel on Campus Coalition and the Maccabee Task Force Foundation, a group founded by Sheldon Adelson aiming to combat anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses, according to the report.
In a more damning reveal, Jan Koum donated $6 million to the American fundraising arm of Elad, which is known to be trying to expand Jewish settlement in parts of largely Arab East Jerusalem.
Another denotation by him of $175,000 was to the Central Fund of Israel, a group that distributes donations from the United States to settler groups in the West Bank.
The largest sums previously donated to AIPAC's super PAC, known as the United Democracy Project were $1 million from Haim Saban, Paul Singer and Bernard Marcus.