James Fishback, an investor who is running as a Republican to be governor of Florida, claims that his opponent, Jay Collins, Florida’s lieutenant governor, held a “private, in-person meeting at the Four Seasons luxury hotel in Palm Beach” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Fishback insisted that Collins release a transcript of the meeting and disclose its purpose to the public. “Floridians from all walks of life and political persuasions are rightly fed up with being told that our tax dollars must fund Israel forever, and that if you disagree, you’re ‘antisemitic,’” he wrote.
There is no evidence that such a one-on-one meeting occurred.
Netanyahu and Collins were both at a JNS event in Surfside, Fla., at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, the time at which Fishback claims the meeting transpired. The Israeli prime minister spoke at the Shul of Bal Harbour, which is about 65 miles south of Palm Beach, where Fishback said the meeting took place.
Fishback sent JNS a screenshot from the lieutenant governor’s public schedule about a 2 p.m. “meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jewish community leaders.”
JNS saw Collins in the room during a roundtable led by Netanyahu, which included Jewish leaders and dozens of others. Collins also spoke to the audience of hundreds at the event after Netanyahu spoke.
The Israeli prime minister left the roundtable shortly after it ended to make his way to the main event. There was no indication that he held private meetings in between. Shortly after his address, Netanyahu left the event.
JNS asked Fishback how Collins and Netanyahu met in Palm Beach at the same time that they were in Surfside, as part of a larger group.
“Floridians deserve to know what was discussed between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Lt. Gov. Collins when they met in person yesterday,” Fishback said.
Fishback later told JNS that it shouldn’t matter whether the two met in Surfside, Bal Harbour, Palm Beach or elsewhere. The point was that Floridians should have transparency about their government and its meetings with foreign officials. (JNS sought comment from Collins.)
Both Fishback and Collins are running for governor against Republican frontrunner Byron Donalds. Fishback is polling in the low single digits.
He has pledged that, if elected, he will direct all state government entities to divest from Israel Bonds on the first day of his administration. He has said public funds should not be invested overseas and that the money would better serve the citizenry by being invested in a housing assistance program.
Florida, under Gov. Ron DeSantis, has established strong ties with Israel, with strong anti-boycott laws on the books.
Fishback has denied accusations of an inappropriate relationship with a student that led a Florida school district to cut ties with him. He has also been banned from the Walt Disney World Resort for holding what the park says was an unsanctioned political rally on its grounds.
