Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed interest in meeting with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) when he visits the country this week as part of an international tour to boost the expected 2024 GOP presidential candidate’s foreign policy chops.
DeSantis will arrive in Israel on Thursday after making stops in Japan and South Korea for meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, which were scheduled far enough in advance to be included in the trip announcement. Plans for meetings with specific Israeli officials, either in the Knesset or Netanyahu personally, have not yet been added to the trip itinerary, despite DeSantis having already departed for Japan on Saturday.
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“Of course, I’ll meet with everyone. Why not? I meet with Republican governors and Democratic governors,” Netanyahu told CBS’s Face the Nation when asked if he’d meet with DeSantis. “I’d meet with every American representative, governor, senator, members of Congress. And I think it’s — it’s my job. And I think it’s important for Israel’s bipartisan support in the United States. I make a point of it.”
It was not clear from Netanyahu’s remarks if a meeting was in the works. A DeSantis spokesperson did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on if other meetings, specifically with Netanyahu and Knesset officials, were being organized.
A press release from the governor’s office announcing the delegation, which was billed as an international trade mission, only said that he would meet with “government leaders and Israeli companies that have invested or are interested in investing in Florida” without offering names of specific officials. That release also said that DeSantis would deliver the keynote address at the “Celebrating the Faces of Israel” conference in Jerusalem on Thursday. The gathering was organized to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of Israel.
The Florida governor has remained tight-lipped about his 2024 plans and is not expected to make an announcement before the conclusion of the state’s legislative session, which ends in May. A growing chorus of DeSantis allies have said in the last month that the governor planned to launch his White House bid sometime this summer.
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DeSantis has used the premise of promoting his new book as a reason to visit several early voting states, a common tactic for presidential hopefuls. The book, The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival, was released in late February. The biography serves as a political blueprint that DeSantis, the highest polling Republican for the party’s 2024 nomination besides Trump, has been able to promote through his nationwide book tour.
Despite his rise to the top of the 2024 presidential field as the second-highest polling Republican, DeSantis still faces an uphill climb to knock former President Donald Trump from the top spot among GOP primary voters. Trump continues to amass early primary endorsements from House and Senate Republicans, most recently scooping up the majority of the Florida GOP Congressional delegation’s backing for his 2024 bid, a notable loss for DeSantis.
