Trump, behind you: the governor of Florida, and the expected presidential candidate, will visit Israel - voila! news

2023-03-28T18:48:43.951Z

Ron DeSantis, the presumptive candidate of the Republican Party for the presidency in 2024, is expected to visit Israel in April. The governor will take part in a trade delegation from California, and will speak at a gala event for the Jerusalem Post. "In a time of tense relations between Jerusalem and Washington, Florida is the bridge," the governor said

President of the United States Joe Biden delivers the State of the Nation Address (Reuters)

The governor of Florida, and the presumptive Republican presidential candidate for 2024, Ron DeSantis, will visit Israel next month - this is what his office told The Times of Israel newspaper this evening (Tuesday).

DeSantis will lead a trade delegation from California, and will speak at a gala event organized by The Jerusalem Post on April 27.

"A few months after I was sworn in for my first term as governor of Florida, I traveled to Israel for a state visit with the largest trade delegation ever from California to the Jewish state," DeSantis said in a statement, "Since then, we have strengthened the relationship between Florida and Israel, fought the scourge of the boycott movement Israel, and we were home to the fastest growing Jewish population in the United States."

"At a time when relations between Jerusalem and Washington are unnecessarily strained, Florida serves as a bridge between the American and Jewish people," DeSantis added, criticizing the Biden administration and its handling of the relationship with Israel.

"The most pro-Israel governor in America", DeSantis (Photo: Reuters)

DeSantiz's words come at a time of strained relations between Israel and the United States.

This, after last week Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, was summoned for a conversation at the American State Department.

The conversation came as a response to the cancellation of parts of the secession law in northern Samaria.

Herzog met with Wendy Sherman, Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

In a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the end of the meeting, it was stated that "the deputy minister expressed the US's concern regarding the legislation approved by the Knesset, which repeals important aspects of the disengagement law from 2005, which includes a ban on the establishment of settlements in the northern West Bank."

DeSantis is known as one of the most prominent members of the Republican Party in support of Israel.

The governor of Florida recently claimed that he helped lay the groundwork for Trump's decision in 2018 to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The governor is also known for having passed legislation against companies boycotting Israel.

In 2019, DeSantis promised to be "the most pro-Israel governor in America."

DeSantis' efforts to increase security in Jewish schools won him praise in the Jewish community, although he was also criticized for his stances on the rights of members of the LGBT community.