How Republican Fund-Raising May Be Affected by Sheldon Adelson’s Death

Senator Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri, called Mr. Adelson “a force of nature” in a statement following the announcement of his death, which was caused by complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, his company, Las Vegas Sands, said.

While Mr. Adelson funded Republican candidates, one prominent Democrat, former Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, praised him as a businessman who was “instrumental in transforming Las Vegas into the iconic destination it is today.”

Mr. Adelson was also a major supporter of Israeli causes, and Dr. Adelson, who was born in Israel and was the driving force behind the family’s involvement in conservative Israeli politics, is expected to remain active as the publisher of the free daily newspaper Israel Hayom.

Susie Gelman, a liberal Jewish philanthropist who heads the board of the Israel Policy Forum and worked with the Adelsons for years in support of Birthright Israel, said she did not expect that Mr. Adelson’s death would result in any great changes in any of the Adelsons’ spheres of influence in Israel. “My sense is that they were very much a team,” Ms. Gelman said. “They seemed very much aligned in their political views.”

In Israel, people active in causes the Adelsons have aided said that Ms. Adelson was even more fervid in her views than her husband.

The Adelsons were arguably the most instrumental backers of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu through their establishment and operation of Israel Hayom, which they set up in 2007. Known widely as “Bibiton” — a portmanteau of Mr. Netanyahu’s nickname, Bibi, and the Hebrew for newspaper, “iton” — the newspaper gave such favorable coverage to Mr. Netanyahu that it was as if he were editing it himself.

In the United States, the couple was a key source of support for the Republican Jewish Coalition, which remained a close ally of Mr. Trump throughout the course of his turbulent presidency. The Adelsons were among those who helped convince Mr. Trump to adopt a hard-line pro-Israel stance, which led to his decision in 2017 to relocate the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — a move that incensed Palestinians and led to unrest across the Middle East.