“Former senator and 2012 presidential candidate Rick Santorum began a three-day trip to Israel on Monday “to show solidarity with the State of Israel…and to reaffirm the moral and strategic imperative of maintaining a strong, close, enduring U.S.-Israeli alliance,” according to his Conservative group ‘Patriot Voices.”
The first stop on Santorum’s itinerary was a visit to the City of David. “Walking through the City of David, seeing the excavations and seeing the Bible come to life, is really quite remarkable… It’s a great start to the understanding of Jerusalem, not just for Jews, but for all of us,” he said.
Santorum connected his visit to Operation Protective Edge as he made his way through the drainage channel beneath the Herodian road, leading from the Shiloach Pool up to the Western Wall Plaza.
“Walking through the tunnel, where the last 2,000 Jews were killed by the Romans, when they sacked Jerusalem [and] to be walking through those tunnels, at a time when tunnels are being built to kill Jews, was a striking contrast, and one which will stick with me for a long time,” he explained.
Santorum’s itinerary also includes visiting an Iron Dome battery and meetings with Israeli government and IDF officials, Israeli soldiers, and residents of the south directly impacted by the war with Hamas.