Irving Moskowitz, the retired Florida businessman who is developing a controversial Jewish apartment project at East Jerusalem’s Shepherd Hotel, is a top campaign contributor to Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), the new GOP chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, campaign finance records show.



Israeli bulldozers began on Sunday to demolish the Shepherd Hotel, located in the predominantly Palestinian Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, to make way for the apartments for Jewish residents.



Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday criticized Israel moving ahead with the controversial project, which the United States, United Kingdom and European Union have long strongly opposed.



“We are very concerned about the initiation of demolition of the Shepherd's Hotel in East Jerusalem,” Clinton said in a statement. “This disturbing development undermines peace efforts to achieve the two-state solution. In particular, this move contradicts the logic of a reasonable and necessary agreement between the parties on the status of Jerusalem.”



Moskowitz purchased the Shepherd Hotel, which was originally built for the mufti of Jerusalem, in 1985, and announced plans to develop 122 apartments for Jewish families there in 2007, plans which were later scaled back to 20 apartments.



In March 2010, the Jerusalem municipality issued final approval for construction of the 20 apartments to proceed, a fact which Israeli media reported hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to meet with President Barack Obama at the White House.



Campaign finance records show that Moskowitz and his wife Cherna Moskowitz together donated $9600* to Ros-Lehtinen in the 2010 election cycle. (*UPDATE: Post previously said $8600).

Cherna Moskowitz also donated $5000 to the National Action Committee PAC (Nacpac), a pro-Israel PAC which contributed $10,000 to Ros-Lehtinen in 2009-2010.