Jewish-American multi-billionaire Arthur Danczyk announced over the weekend that he will stop his significant donations to the Kohelet Policy Forum, an ultraconservative organization that describes itself as a “research institute” and is behind the judicial reform currently promoted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. .
If there’s one thing that can’t be said about Danczyk, it’s that he’s fickle. For more than two decades, the American billionaire has helped politicians, organizations and think tanks to promote libertarian ideology in both the United States and Israel.
Danczyk is not the first person associated with Kohelet’s forum to disapprove of the judicial coup. Dr. Michael Sharal, who was chief economist at the Ministry of Finance and was director of the economic department at the forum, also explained that the package of bills that are included in the reform of the judicial system could harm the Israeli economy.
Danczyk said in response to inquiries from Calcalist, “Throughout my life I have supported a diverse array of organizations that promote individual liberties and economic freedoms for all people. However, when a society becomes dangerously fragmented, people must come together to preserve democracy. I stopped donating to think tanks in Israel, including the Kohelet Policy Forum. I believe that what is most important at this time is for Israel to focus on healing and national unity.”
Over the years, he has chosen to do so with minimal public exposure. Despite his considerable public influence, he rarely gives interviews; instead, it achieves its goals through millions of dollars in donations (which have declined in recent years). Danczyk’s name is always mentioned along with those of his two partners, wealthy Pennsylvanian Jeff Yass and Joel Greenberg, who co-founded the trading company Susquehanna International Group in 1987, based in the Philadelphia suburb of Bala Cynwyd.
Jas and Danczyk met during high school and their camaraderie was built in part on their shared love of gambling. The two move to Las Vegas after graduating and start betting on horse races. In 1985, they won $764,000, a massive payout that prompted them to turn down an offer from a consortium of gamblers they represented to continue betting on horse races. Susquehanna engages in algorithmic trading and is a prime broker in the stock market. Today it is a privately held financial giant with over 1,500 employees in offices in the United States, an office in Ireland and four in Asia.
The company has never brought in outside partners and maintains a level of confidentiality that pervades its management. Their activities have made all three billionaires, with Danczyk’s fortune estimated by Forbes at around $7.3 billion.
Following their financial support for political candidates advocating for reducing public investment in education and moving beyond the voucher system, a local Philadelphia news site, WHYY.com, dubbed the three partners in 2015 the “Susquehanna Boys” or “The Billionaires of Bala”. They were described as “three rich men motivated not by personal financial interests but by an ‘ideological commitment.’
This commitment is evident, for example, in Danczyk’s consistent participation in various political organizations that aim to shape the country’s economic policy. Among other roles, he serves on the board of directors of the Institute for Justice, a libertarian organization founded with funding from the Koch brothers whose mission is “to end widespread government exploitation and ensure the rights of all Americans to live their lives, as he sees fit.”