Florida’s Governor has been to Israel twice since his election, and prior to that while in Congress, but he won’t be going there anytime soon.
During a Newsmax interview, Ron DeSantis said trips from politicians are just “getting in the way” of Israeli military operations against Hamas.
“I’ve been requested to kind of go over there,” DeSantis said. But he added that he’s “not going to go over there at this time.”
“I think that to have politicians going over there … I think you’re just getting in the way of what’s going on. They’ve got a job to do. Our job here in the United States is to support them. They should be able to defend themselves to the hilt and get the job done. And that’s what I’ll be doing,” DeSantis said.
“I know some other Governors are thinking about going over, but that’s not what I’m going to be doing because I don’t think that that’s going to be productive for them to get the job done. So we’re helping from here with the flights. We’ve sent a lot of donated supplies to Israel that we’ve flown over and we’re happy to be in the fight in that regard, but not for any, any theatrics.”
Indeed, politicians not only are thinking about going over, but some have made the trip, including Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. She went to the Western Wall and “prayed for the victims of Hamas’ horrific attacks, their families, and all the innocent civilians lost as a result.”
Another prominent Democratic Governor, California’s Gavin Newsom, is in the country now.
Former President Donald Trump told reporters this week that “maybe” he’d go, but he’d “thought about it” and he believes “in letting them do what they have to do.”
DeSantis has spoken critically about President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel, saying that if he were President, he’d be “doing it probably from the White House,” as he was “not sure it was a good idea to go there and inject yourself into a situation like that.”
“I mean, we can do policy without doing that when the President shows up,” DeSantis told Brian Kilmeade Wednesday. “It creates all kinds of complications.”
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