Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

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.

The deliberate targeting by Tehran and by its proxy Hezbollah of civilian areas in Israel and in other neighboring states violates all humanitarian norms and is absolutely prohibited.
“It’s a great victory for the First Amendment right to free speech, including the right to draw attention to bigotry and hateful speech,” Paul Eckles, of the Brandeis Center, told JNS. “We commend our client for having the courage to speak out.”
U.S. President Donald Trump appears to have precipitated the move by demanding congressional action in a social media post earlier on Wednesday.
JNS sought comment from Aria Fani and received an autoreply, “On leave until September. Will not check email with capitalist frequency.”
A spokesman for the Ivy told JNS that the school believes being required “to create lists of Jewish faculty and staff, and to provide personal contact information, raises serious privacy and First Amendment concerns.”
The new program adds “America First foreign policy lectures” and shifts focus to merit and core diplomatic skills.