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US-POLITICS-ISRAEL-GAMBLING-FUNERAL
Billionaire right-winger Adelson to be buried in Jerusalem Friday: paper
JERUSALEM, Jan 15, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, a staunch supporter of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will be buried in Jerusalem Friday, a paper controlled by his family said.
Adelson died of cancer in the US on Tuesday and his body arrived in Israel late Thursday, according to the Israel Hayom newspaper, which published a front page photograph of his coffin drapped in Israeli and American flags.
Netanyahu met the coffin and Adelson’s wife Miriam at the airport, Israel Hayom reported.
The son of a Boston taxi driver, Adelson brought new heights to the gambling industry around the world.
He rose to become one of the richest men on the planet thanks to his chain of casinos. As of Tuesday Forbes magazine estimated his net worth at $35 billion.
Adelson was equally known for his tireless advocacy for Israel and right-wing causes, and for his impassioned opposition to the Palestinian cause.
He caused a furore with many of his remarks, including dismissing the Palestinians as an “invented” people and musing about how the United States should drop a nuclear bomb on Israel’s arch-enemy Iran.
Netanyahu called Adelson “an incredible champion of the Jewish people,” following his death.
The Adelson family founded Israel Hayom in 2007, and it is now one of the country’s most popular papers.
Miriam Adelson, born in in British mandate Palestine, is the paper’s publisher.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1423 hrs