Saban, a long-time supporter and donor of many Jewish and pro-Israel causes, has stated his main goal in multiple interviews: "I'm a one-issue guy, and my issue is Israel." Saban became involved in politics in the mid-1990s when he felt that support for Israel was slipping in the United States. Amy Paris noted that Saban's Clinton-era "generosity did not go unrewarded. During the
Clinton administration, the entertainment executive served on the President's Export Council, advising the
White House on trade issues." During the
2000 presidential election, Saban increased his rank to 5th among individual donors with a combined contribution of $1,250,500. Saban's donations during that 2001–2002 period exceeded $10 million, the largest donation the DNC has received from a single source up to that time. In September 2004, Hillary Clinton described Saban as a very good friend, supporter and adviser: "I am grateful for his commitment to Israel, to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East and to my foundation's work, particularly on reconciliation issues." According to the
Los Angeles Times, Saban has also made donations to members of the
Republican Party including a 2003 contribution to
George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign. Saban has said that
Keith Ellison, who ran for the leadership of the
DNC, "is clearly an anti-Semite and anti-Israel individual." Saban also called Sen.
Bernie Sanders (I-VT) "an anti-Israel person." In 2006, Saban discussed his views on the Middle East and Persian Gulf region in an interview with
Haaretz. Commenting on Iran, he said: "When I see Ahmadinejad, I see Hitler. They speak the same language. His motivation is also clear: the return of the Mahdi is a supreme goal. And for a religious person of deep self-persuasion, that supreme goal is worth the liquidation of five and a half million Jews. We cannot allow ourselves that. Nuclear weapons in the hands of a religious leadership that is convinced that the annihilation of Israel will bring about the emergence of a new Muslim caliphate? Israel cannot allow that. This is no game. It's truly an existential danger." If Obama strikes a "bad deal" with Iran that would put Israel at risk, "I would bomb the living daylights out of these sons of bitches," Saban said at a meeting of the Israeli American Council. In 2005, Saban spent $100,000 to oppose California's 2005
Proposition 77 redistricting reform. Saban contributed $100,000 to pass California's 2008 redistricting reform,
Proposition 11, which created a
Citizens Redistricting Commission to redraw California's state political boundaries, but not U.S. Congressional districts. Saban contributed $2,000,000 to support
Proposition 27, California's proposed 2010 repeal of
Proposition 11, the 2008 redistricting reform – the same reform that Haim Saban previously supported with a $100,000 contribution. He joined list of
other well-connected, big-money donors to the Democratic Party in supporting Proposition 27. In 2020, Saban collaborated with UAE Ambassador to the United States,
Yousef Al Otaiba, on a June 12 op-ed addressed to the Israeli public in an effort to halt Israel's planned annexation of parts of the West Bank and create a unified front between the UAE and Israel against the opposing forces of Iran. Al Otaiba credited Saban with advising him where his op-ed should be placed, when it should be placed and that it needed to be translated in Hebrew. The efforts were purported to have helped pave the way to the August 2020 signing of the
Abraham Accords, brokered by United States President, Donald Trump, and normalizing ties between Israel and UAE. ==Philanthropy==