Casino owner insists he’s using personal fortune to rebuild Jerusalem

Friday, May 28, 1999 | 5:13 a.m.

A coalition of rabbis and activists led by Downey Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak are angry that the settlements are destabilizing the peace process in Israel. They have urged California officials to pull the gambling license of Irving Moscowitz.

"The reaction is that Mr. Beliak's assertions are pure, unadulterated fabricated fiction," Moscowitz said Friday on Israel radio. "I'm using my personal fortune, my personal money, and I am proud to be using it to rebuild Jerusalem, to help to rebuild Jerusalem."

Moskowitz controls the nonprofit foundation running the city-licensed Hawaiian Gardens Bingo Club. Former City Attorney Julia Silva said earlier that more than $58 million in tax-free money from the club is funneled to Israel each year.

"The millions Moskowitz pours into Israel can still potentially disrupt the political balance in Jerusalem and the Middle East," Beliak said earlier this week.

Moskowitz is currently financing a 132-unit housing settlement in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood of West Jerusalem.

Ground was broken on the Ras al-Amud settlement one day after the election of Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak. The settlement is seen as a challenge to Barak's new Israeli government, which may be less friendly to Moskowitz than was outgoing prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.