Trump's first term and Israel (2017-2021): Adelson money, embassy move, Golan, Iran deal and aid cuts

Case

During Trump's first term the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem (May 2018), left the Iran nuclear deal (May 2018), cut Palestinian aid (from September 2018) and recognized Israeli control of the Golan Heights (2019). Trump has publicly said megadonors Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, who gave more than $600 million to Trump and other Republicans since 2015, influenced the embassy and Golan decisions. The entry records these documented facts. The donor claims come from Trump's own remarks and press accounts, not from any investigation of a quid pro quo.

Policy decisions
In May 2018 the US moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Netanyahu compared Trump to "King Cyrus." Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's spokesman said the move cancelled America's mediation role and called it an "insult."
Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May 2018. The other signatories (UK, France, Germany, Russia, China) kept the agreement in place.
From September 2018 the administration cut aid to UNRWA, the Palestinian Authority, East Jerusalem hospitals and co-existence programs. Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt led a peace plan that stayed unreleased through 2018. The administration framed these steps as removing obstacles to negotiations and countering Iranian expansion.
In 2019 the US recognized Israeli control over the Golan Heights, which Israel took from Syria.

The Adelson money
Miriam and the late Sheldon Adelson gave more than $600 million to Trump's three presidential campaigns and other Republican candidates since 2015, per Al Jazeera. Miriam put $106 million into the pro-Trump super PAC Preserve America before the 2024 election.
Trump awarded Miriam Adelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018.
At the Knesset on Oct. 13, 2025, Trump credited the Adelsons with influencing the embassy and Golan decisions. He said "Miriam and Sheldon would come into the Oval Office...I think they had more trips to the White House than anybody else," and recalled asking her whether she loved the US or Israel more.

Insiders, family money and a pardon
A donor book from a Dec. 2, 2017 gala showed the Kushner Companies Charitable Foundation gave at least $18,000 ("Master Builders" level) to American Friends of Bet El Yeshiva Center, which supports a West Bank settlement. ProPublica said it was the first such gift made while Jared Kushner led the administration's Israeli-Palestinian peace effort. Kushner Companies said the fund is solely controlled by Charles Kushner, Jared's father, and Kushner's White House spokesman declined to comment.
David Friedman, formerly president of the American Friends of Bet El organization, became Trump's ambassador to Israel.
In June 2022 the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), opened an investigation into whether Kushner's Middle East policy work in the Trump administration was tied to his later business interests. The probe followed Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund putting $2 billion into Kushner's firm Affinity Partners, formed after he left office. Maloney cited "the appearance of a quid pro quo." A Kushner spokesperson said he "fully abided by all legal and ethical guidelines both during and after his government service." The Saudi investment is not an Israel-specific deal; it is included for the Middle East policy and business overlap.
On Jan. 20, 2021, in his final clemency wave, Trump pardoned Aviem Sella, the former Israeli Air Force officer indicted in the 1980s for recruiting US Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard as a spy for Israel. The White House statement said the clemency was supported by Netanyahu, Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer, US Ambassador David Friedman and Miriam Adelson, and that Israel had issued a "full and unequivocal apology" and requested the pardon. Sella never stood trial in the US.
Jason Greenblatt, Trump's special representative for international negotiations from December 2016, had spent 20 years at the Trump Organization, ending as vice president and chief legal adviser. He studied at a yeshiva in Israel in the mid-1980s and became Trump's de facto Israel adviser in the 2016 campaign. A Palestinian analyst, Nour Odeh, said he had "no clue" about the conflict, while an Israeli settlement official credited him with facilitating water and electricity deals.
The New York Times, as relayed by JTA in January 2018, reported that Kushner Companies kept doing business with Israeli firms while Jared Kushner was in government: a $30 million investment from the Israeli insurer Menora Mivtachim in 10 Maryland apartment complexes (May 2018 per JTA's summary), at least four loans from Bank Hapoalim, and nearly $200 million from the Steinmetz family in Manhattan buildings. The Times found no evidence that Kushner was personally involved. Kushner Companies said it does no business with foreign sovereigns or governments, and Kushner's attorney said he had not been involved in or spoken about company activities since before inauguration.
On Nov. 20, 2020 the US Parole Commission ended the parole conditions of Jonathan Pollard, the former Navy analyst who sold secrets to Israel in the 1980s (life sentence, released on parole in 2015). Netanyahu said he expected Pollard in Israel soon. AP reported the move came the same week as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to West Bank settlements, but did not say the two were connected.

Perspectives

Critic — Palestinian Authority (Abbas spokesman)
The Jerusalem embassy move cancelled the US role as mediator and was an insult that created incitement.

Official position — Trump administration
The administration framed its actions as removing obstacles to negotiations and countering Iranian expansion.

Editorial read — The Author (site author), thesis
The Author's reading: when a president says a megadonor had "more trips to the White House than anybody else" and credits her with decisions, when the ambassador once ran a settlement-funding charity, and when a megadonor, an ambassador and the Israeli government all back the pardon of an Israeli who recruited a spy against the US, the pattern of money, access and policy deserves scrutiny regardless of intent. This is interpretation. The sources document donations, access, pardons and Trump's own statement about influence. They do not document a bribe or a quid pro quo, and the entry does not claim one.

Note
No investigation has found that donations bought these decisions; the administration framed them as removing obstacles to peace and countering Iran.

Sources
[1] Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/13/who-is-miriam-adelson-the-pro-Israel-donor-trump-lauded-at-the-knesset) · 2025-10-13
[2] Times of Israel (https://www.timesofisrael.com/2018-the-year-donald-trump-upended-the-us-israel-relationship/) · 2018-12
[3] ProPublica (https://www.propublica.org/article/jared-kushner-kushner-companies-donating-west-bank-settlement) · 2018-05
[4] Axios (https://www.axios.com/2022/06/03/house-jared-kushner-firm-saudi-investment-investigation) · 2022-06-03
[5] Israel Hayom (https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/01/20/trump-pardons-pollard-handler-aviam-sela-in-last-minute-clemency-flurry) · 2021-01-20
[6] JTA (reporting New York Times findings) (https://www.jta.org/2018/01/08/united-states/jared-kushners-family-business-reportedly-still-making-financial-deals-with-israeli-companies) · 2018-01-08
[7] Associated Press (via KSAT) (https://www.ksat.com/news/world/2020/11/21/netanyahu-convicted-spy-pollard-expected-in-israel-soon/) · 2020-11-21
[8] NBC News (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/can-trump-s-ex-lawyer-jason-greenblatt-achieve-middle-east-n786671) · 2017

Connections

Shared mechanism — AIPAC lobbying and campaign spending
Both involve campaign money and access shaping US Israel policy.

Related — IRGC's Sept. 29, 2026 open letter to the American people
The letter blames Trump and a pro-Israel donor class for U.S. policy; this entry documents Adelson giving and first-term Israel decisions.

Same actor — Jared Kushner as U.S. special envoy: Affinity Partners' Gulf fundraising and Israeli war-linked holdings during the Iran war (2025-2026)
Kushner's first-term role in Trump's Middle East and Israel policy led into Affinity Partners, which Raskin's letter ties to Saudi investment after he left the White House.

Cause and effect — US policy toward Israel amid mounting genocide allegations in Gaza
First-term policy shifts set the baseline for later US policy toward Israel.

Same context — US-Israel law-enforcement channels: ICE spyware and forensics contracts and police exchange programs
Same first-term period (2017-2021) viewed through policy and donors rather than surveillance contracts.