Republican presidential hopeful Scott Walker leaves for Israel visit
Evangelical Wisconsin governor to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu, visit ‘ strategically significant sites’ as part of what he called an ‘educational trip.’
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a likely candidate for the Republican nomination for president, left the U.S. for what he billed as an “educational trip” to Israel.
Walker reportedly left late Saturday from Greenville, South Carolina, where he had participated in the South Carolina Freedom Summit.
The trip is scheduled to last five days. It is reportedly being paid for by Our American Revival, Walkers political organization; and the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Walker said that he was planning on meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also is scheduled to meet with members of the Knesset and leaders in the IDF, as well as U.S. ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro, according to the New York Times.
Walker’s political organization said that he would take a helicopter tour of “various historical and strategically significant sites,” visit religious sites, meet with a “wide range of leaders at the highest levels of government,” and discuss economic development with Israeli and Palestinian entrepreneurs, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The governor announced last month he would not take media on his trip to Israel and then called it a “listening tour.”
The governor also is scheduled to tour Jerusalem, including visiting the Western Wall, the Via Dolorosa and Yad Vahshem, where he will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony, the Times reported. He also is scheduled to tour the site of the future Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem.