Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to Visit Israel in April, Before Possible Presidential Run
Florida’s pro-Israel Governor Ron DeSantis plans to visit Israel next month as part of a trade delegation from the Sunshine State.
The governor is expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2024 election, in a challenge to already-declared candidate former President Donald Trump.
DeSantis is slated to speak at an event to be held by The Jerusalem Post and the Museum of Tolerance on April 27, according to the governor’s office.
In a statement released to media, DeSantis noted that a few months after his inauguration for his first term as governor, he traveled to Israel for a state visit “with the largest-ever trade delegation from the Sunshine State to the Jewish State.”
Since that time, he said, “we have strengthened the relationship between Florida and Israel through increased investment by Israeli companies in our state, fighting the scourge of the [Boycott, Divest and Sanctions economic campaign against Israel], and being home to the fastest-growing Jewish population in the United States.
“At a time of unnecessarily strained relations between Jerusalem and Washington, Florida serves as a bridge between the American and Israeli people,” he added.
DeSantis has indeed been one of the most pro-Israel Republicans in the United States, and has maintained in his recent book, “The Courage to be Free” – as did former Republican Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his tenure — that the Judea and Samaria region is not “occupied” territory, but rather “disputed” territory.
