Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem on Wednesday with a delegation of 41 Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), a longtime Israel ally, is leading the delegation, which arrived in Israel on Tuesday and is set to tour the country this week. The visit was organized by the American Israel Education Foundation, an affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
The Prime Minister’s Office has so far released only a brief excerpt of Netanyahu’s remarks at the meeting.
“There is an exceptional revolution taking place in Israel’s position in the world,” he reportedly told the delegation. “This is seldom told. We’ve forged 300 agreements in three years.”
Also in attendance at the meeting were Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz and AIPAC president Mort Friedman.
Delegation members are scheduled to meet with Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and representatives from Israeli and Arab civil society. They will tour Israel’s northern borders, visit an Iron Dome missile defense battery and also the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum.
Ahead of the trip, Hoyer said he was “pleased to join so many House Democrats in traveling to Israel to reaffirm our support for a critical U.S. ally and to continue learning about the opportunities and the challenges facing Israel and the Middle East. Seeing the region firsthand and meeting with key Israeli and Palestinian leaders gives members insights into a region that is vital both to our own national interests and to global security.”
Last month, controversial Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) made headlines when they announced they would be taking a tour of Israel that would focus on the “occupation.”
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
