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Netanyahu meets with Iowa senator in Jerusalem

Neither Netanyahu’s nor Sen. Joni Ernst’s office read out the meeting.

Netanyahu Ernst
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in his Jerusalem office with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Jan. 23, 2026. Credit: Ma’ayan Toaf/GPO.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in his Jerusalem office with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) on Friday, according to his office.

There was no immediate readout from either the senator’s or the prime minister’s office. (JNS sought comment from Ernst’s office.)

In recent months, the pro-Israel senator has said that she is praying for the Jewish state and that “you never hear Iran chant ‘death to Israel’ without ‘death to America.’”

Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Ernst is part of the body’s Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

“By taking steps to dismantle these financial channels, the United States aims to deny the Iranian regime the resources it uses to threaten regional stability,” said State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.
“The pro-terror flotilla is a ludicrous attempt to undermine President Trump’s successful progress toward lasting peace in the region,” the U.S. treasury secretary said.
“We have a responsibility to confront antisemitism, defend democratic values and ensure every resident feels safe,” said Steven Meiner, mayor of Miami Beach.
The public university stated that the graduate student violated rules that were sent out prior to graduation and that several participants were removed from various ceremonies for carrying different flags, including U.S. and Ukrainian ones.
Rep. Adam Smith, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, told JNS that “the far-right and the far-left have decided that threats and intimidation are another way to try to either drive people out or make them so scared that they acquiesce.”
Major New York City Jewish leaders boycotted the event, to which JNS was told there was no room for it to report.