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Murdoch Endorses Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital

News Corp CEO throws support behind King David

by
Stephanie Butnick
September 10, 2012
News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch delivers a keynote address at the National Summit on Education Reform on October 14, 2011.(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch delivers a keynote address at the National Summit on Education Reform on October 14, 2011.(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Rupert Murdoch addressed the recent Democratic National Convention kerfuffle over Jerusalem while speaking today at a Wall Street Journal conference on investing in Israel.

“My platform is pretty simple,” the News Corp CEO told the audience at the start of his opening address. “If it’s good enough for King David, it’s good enough for me.”

At a conference about Israel’s fertile investment opportunities and returns—government incentives to invest, GDP growth statistics, research and development sites for international companies—Murdoch’s statement on Jerusalem injected politics into the otherwise straightforward morning talks. The powerful Republican donor and longtime supporter of Israel added his opinion to the criticism heaped upon the Democratic party after Los Angeles mayor and DNC chair Antonio Villaraigosa led a chaotic voice vote to re-insert recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital into the Democratic party platform.

Ultimately, though, Murdoch focused on the attractiveness of Israel’s economic landscape, and the bottom line. “The path to global competitiveness runs through Israel,” he assured the crowd. “Simply put: Israel’s performance has now become too good for investors to ignore.”

Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.