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DeSantis will head to Israel as he bolsters foreign policy chops ahead of 2024

Note – Is DeSantis a Zionist puppet? Enquiring minds would like to know…

 

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) will head to Israel next month and deliver a keynote at a Celebrate the Faces of Israel event, marking the latest of his foreign policy ventures.

Early in his tenure, DeSantis pledged to be the most “pro-Israel governor in America” and has visited Israel on at least one occasion. This current trip slated for April 27 was announced by its organizers, the Jerusalem Post and Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem, on Tuesday.

“We have strengthened the relationship between Florida and Israel through increased investment by Israeli companies in our state, fighting the scourge of BDS, and being home to the fastest growing Jewish population in the United States,” DeSantis said in a statement. “Florida serves as a bridge between the American and Israeli people.”

Some 400 attendees, including 120 U.S. Jewish philanthropists, are expected to be in attendance during his remarks. During his time as governor, DeSantis emerged as a stalwart supporter of Israel, backing the Trump administration’s decision to shift the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

DeSantis has also pushed back against corporations that engaged in the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, in which they limited activity in Israel as an act of protest over the treatment of the Palestinians.

Israel is engulfed in turmoil, with widespread protests taking the nation by storm over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s push for judicial reform. Netanyahu has sought to grant the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, the power to overrule Supreme Court rulings, which critics decried, insisting the move imperils democracy.

In response to widespread demonstrations, including international backlash, Netanyahu hit pause on plans to barrel ahead.

Late last year, DeSantis met with Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Yousef Al Otaiba, United Arab Emirates ambassador to the U.S., and Maor Elbaz-Starinsky, the consul general of Israel in Miami.

The journey to Israel will come on the heels of DeSantis’s trips through various states, such as New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, amid 2024 speculation.

With an eye on a possible presidential run, DeSantis has waded into foreign policy matters. Earlier this month, he stirred controversy by describing the war in Ukraine as a “territorial dispute” but later clarified that he viewed Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal and opposed the invasion.

DeSantis has widely polled in second place among hypothetical 2024 GOP contestants. He has indicated that a campaign launch could come at some point after the Florida state legislature wraps up its session in May.

Source: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/desantis-head-israel-shores-up-foreign-policy-chops