Gambling on Extremism How Irving Moskowitz took over a small California town to bankroll Israel’s anti-peace settlers The Coalition for Justice in Hawaiian Gardens and Jerusalem www.stopmoskowitz.org December 15, 2003 1 Gambling on Extremism Table of Contents 3 Introduction 5 Part One Playing with Matches How Irving Moskowitz’s Millions enflame tensions in the Middle East 7 Moskowitz and the "Neocons" Links to the US Foreign Policymaking Establishment 14 Map of post 1967 expanded municipal Jerusalem 15 Part Two: Den of Iniquity: What a casino in the wrong hands can do to a small town. The story of Irving Moskowitz’s takeover of Hawaiian Gardens 27 Part Three: How Moskowitz Profits from his Hawaiian Gardens Non-profits A Detailed Analysis of Irving Moskowitz’s Non-profit Operations in Hawaiian Gardens 28 Tri-City’s Tax-Exempt Status An Abuse of Public Trust? 33 Conclusion 39 End Notes 2 Gambling on Extremism Gambling on Extremism Introduction nyone versed in the travails of the Israeli- the case that the harm he already has done to Palestinian peace process probably has at these two communities and the peace process Aleast some acquaintance with Dr. Irving proves that Irving Moskowitz does not have the Moskowitz. While Moskowitz seeks to stay out of moral fiber or the legal to run a California casino. the limelight of the American press, many tracking the setbacks of recent years have seen his finger- What follows is a comprehensive report on the prints in the extremist settler incursions into Arab devastating impact Moskowitz’s California gam- neighborhoods in and around East Jerusalem, bling operations have had on Hawaiian Gardens such as Abu Dis, once considered a potential site and Jerusalem. for the capital of a Palestinian state. To many of our readers, Moskowitz is already infa- It’s quite a leap from for-profit hospital chain mous. And they may wonder whether this report is owner, as Moskowitz was in 1980, to key player in simply a well-worn re-telling of a “tale of two cities” the campaign to undermine the Israeli-Palestinian that they have already heard. It is not. peace process. The intermediate step was co- opting a city government in a small, predominately What we have tried to do with this report is to cre- Latino city in Los Angeles County, called Hawaiian ate a comprehensive analysis of Moskowitz’s own Gardens. Moskowitz’s needed that government as “road map” of obstructionism. Our goal was to un- a base of operations for the gambling operations derstand: What was his strategy in East Jerusa- he uses to help fund Israel’s radical right. lem? How does he use his California gambling op- erations to further his goals? Why has the Hawai- Irving Moskowitz currently operates a bingo hall ian Gardens city government been unable to reign and owns a casino in Hawaiian Gardens; he has in his card club ambitions or at least harness them used his financial clout to turn the city government to the betterment – rather than the degradation – into his own personal fiefdom for the benefit of of their own civic community? And just where did those two ventures. In Israel, he uses money de- the money come from that first enabled Moskowitz rived from gambling proceeds to thwart Israeli- to seize the role of principal financier of Israel’s ex- Palestinian peace by buying strategically placed tremists? Palestinian real estate for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem and by supporting militant groups that The report also includes new information on are opposed to the peace process. Moskowitz’s ties to America’s own extremist prob- lem – the neo-conservatives currently pushing their Not incidentally, Moskowitz’s gambling revenue hawkish policy inside and outside the US govern- also helps fund some of the leading lights of the ment. US neo-conservative intellectual movement; these are the authors of the Bush Administration’s war in The report is divided into three sections: Iraq. In Part One, we explain how grants from the Our coalition has been working since 1998 to stop Moskowitz Foundation, which runs the Hawai- Irving Moskowitz’s activities in Jerusalem and Ha- ian Gardens bingo, have inflamed tensions in waiian Gardens. Now approaching the end of the Middle East. Using “pass-through” foun- 2003, we are in the homestretch of our campaign. dations controlled by Moskowitz family mem- The California Gambling Control Commission has bers, his foundation has spent at least $6 mil- announced that it will hold a hearing on December lion to fund provocative real estate purchases 18th to decide whether to grant or deny his long- in Arab East Jerusalem, the Golan, and the pending application for a casino license. West Bank especially Hebron. He has also spent an untold amount of personal funds. By The decision will mean the difference between funding these projects, including two apart- whether Moskowitz has mere millions or hundreds ment developments, one in a location key to of millions of dollars at his disposal to further ex- Palestinian aspirations for a future capital in tremist causes both here and abroad. Representa- the outskirts of Jerusalem, Moskowitz works tives of our Coalition will be at the hearing to make to create “facts on the ground” that will be im- 3 Gambling on Extremism movable obstacles to peace. Hawaiian Gardens could use the help. It is a largely immigrant, postage-stamp sized city, That certainly is how the US government where half of all adult residents lack a high sees it. In 2003, Moskowitz moved settlers school diploma, gang violence is rampant and into one of his properties in Arab East Jerusa- nearly one out of every four families live be- lem. The State Department declared the set- low the poverty line. Moskowitz could have tlement “inconsistent” with President Bush’s made good on his promise to use the gam- vision of a two-state solution to the Israeli- bling proceeds generated in Hawaiian Gar- Palestinian conflict. dens to help the community help itself through job creation, literacy and anti-violence pro- A Moskowitz-funded “pass-through” founda- grams. Instead, most of the small fraction of tion contributed well over $5 million to Ateret the proceeds Moskowitz contributed to Ha- Cohanim, an ultra-nationalist group that ag- waiian Gardens has gone to propping up – gressively promotes a Jewish presence in and ultimately co-opting – the city’s govern- East Jerusalem. Ateret Cohanim believes that ment. the "holy" land grab it is carrying out with Moskowitz's help will speed the coming of the messiah, and, by implication, the rebuilt tem- The third part follows the money to provide ple they are planning to construct where the a detailed analysis of how Irving Moskowitz Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa Mosques used his non-profit operations in Hawaiian now stand. The group has been known to re- Gardens to increase his political influence in sort to violence in its effort to drive out Arab the city and for his own personal financial residents living there. gain. We have carefully sifted through founda- tion IRS forms, court and property records, Moskowitz’s provocative undertakings in Je- lease agreements, the California state busi- rusalem have already claimed many lives. In ness registry as well as conducting numerous 1996 over 70 people died in riots following the interviews with community leaders in our ef- opening of a controversial tunnel parallel to fort to prove Moskowitz has engaged in non- the Temple Mount that he funded. This sec- profit profiteering in Hawaiian Gardens. tion explores the political and religious signifi- cance of the Temple Mount, the role it plays This report is the result of years of effort on the in the current strife, and just where this sa- part of Coalition members to document serious cred ground figures in Moskowitz’s grand abuses of the California Gambling Code and viola- plan. tions of moral standards that are part and parcel of Moskowitz’s campaign of extremism. Much of the information included here has already been made Part Two describes how Moskowitz was able available to the California Gambling Control Com- to persuade the city of Hawaiian Gardens to mission as a formal submission which makes clear permit and then pay for his card club, now a that Moskowitz is unfit to possess a gambling li- money making machine with estimated reve- cense. nues above $150 million a year. It is our firm hope that the Commission will agree Card club opponents in the community allege that Moskowitz should not be allowed to use pro- Moskowitz used his financial and political ceeds from California gambling operations to fund clout to sway elections, recall candidates op- his disgraceful crusade against peace in the Mid- posed to his casino, flout California’s elec- dle East – nor should he be allowed to maintain his tions and gambling codes, and instigate a vise-grip on Hawaiian Gardens’ government and land-grab in Hawaiian Gardens - all in an ef- politics. fort to build his casino. We hope that you too will support and help publi- In 1988 Moskowitz took over the operation of cize our campaign. For more information, we invite the non-profit Hawaiian Gardens bingo club. you to visit our website www.stopmoskowitz.org. The bingo has generated tens of million of Members of the media interested in pursuing this dollars for his Irving I. Moskowitz Foundation story in advance of the hearings but has failed to provide much benefit to Ha- are welcome to contact us at 310-553-1146 waiian Gardens. or email us at [email protected].