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Sa’ar hosts US House reps in Jerusalem for talks on regional issues

Jerusalem’s top diplomat said he highlighted “the potential threat of ISIS in Syria” to the delegation.

A U.S. House delegation headed by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) meets with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, Feb. 18, 2025. Credit: Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
A U.S. House delegation headed by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) meets with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Feb. 18, 2025. Credit: Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar hosted a U.S. House delegation headed by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and organized by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Tuesday morning, his office said.

Jerusalem’s top diplomat said he briefed the visiting lawmakers on “regional issues,” highlighting “the potential threat of ISIS in Syria.”

“I thanked them for passing House legislation against the ICC, which is waging legal warfare against Israel,” Sa’ar concluded, in reference to the International Criminal Court case against officials of the Jewish state.

On Monday, a bipartisan Senate delegation led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) sat down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israel Defense Forces’ Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

They also met with Sa’ar, who said he “emphasized that Iran seeks to compensate for its weakened position by obtaining nuclear weapons.”

“We discussed regional issues, including Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, the Houthis and Iran,” according to a statement from Sa’ar’s office.

Later that night, speaking during a press conference at the David Kempinski Hotel in Tel Aviv, Graham told reporters that “the overarching theme” of the meetings with Israeli government officials was Iran.

“Iran with a nuke is a nightmare for the Jewish state; it’s a nightmare for the world because Arabs will want a nuclear weapon of their own, and you’ll have a nuclear arms race,” the lawmaker said, adding that the prospect of the regime developing the bomb keeps him up at night.

The reversal “sends an unfortunate signal at a time of rising antisemitism and sustained efforts to isolate Israel economically,” Evan R. Bernstein, CEO of B’nai B’rith International, told JNS.
Cooperation cannot thrive with boycotts, said the Israeli president, who met Bahraini and Chinese foreign ministers on the sidelines of a pan-Asian conference in Azerbaijan.
Israel’s foreign minister called it a historic day for ties between the two countries and an important day for the capital.
“People need to be aware, and institutions need to repair,” Miri Bar-Halpern told JNS. “Clinicians are engaging in activism. It’s not about therapy anymore.”