13 October 2023
Dave Goldiner | New York Daily News
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will lead a bipartisan delegation to Israel this weekend amid the widening war between the Jewish state and Hamas.
Schumer, a Democrat, will jet to Israel to show support just days after the Islamist group killed 1,000 Israelis in the worst terror attacks in decades — and the Jewish state strikes back hard.
“The United States stands with Israel, a message that should go out in America and particularly in Israel,” Schumer said Friday. “People should know they are not alone as they fight this scourge of terrorism, which could affect any country in the world.”
Schumer did not say which lawmakers would accompany him on the quickly planned trip, but said it would include Republicans and Democrats.
He cut short a trip to Asia when the terror attacks took place last weekend.
Schumer plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with opposition leader Benny Gantz, who has joined an emergency war cabinet formed after the attacks.
Schumer will be in Israel as the Jewish state continues to pound Gaza, the crowded enclave that Hamas rules with an iron fist.
Israeli airstrikes and missile attacks have already killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians along with Hamas fighters.
Schumer’s trip to Israel follows a visit from Secretary of State Antony Blinken. It also comes ahead of next week’s confirmation hearing for former U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, President Biden’s pick to be U.S. ambassador to Israel.
The Senate hopes to quickly pass a major aid package to Israel, but it may also combine it with aid for embattled Ukraine.
Any aid package will be in limbo until the Republican-led House of Representatives can pick a new speaker.
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