Delegation of 250 US state legislators to head to Israel next week

A delegation of 250 United States state legislators will arrive in Israel next week, according to a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, marking the largest-ever group of elected officials to visit the country in a single trip.

The bipartisan contingent — five lawmakers from each of America’s 50 states, most visiting Israel for the first time — comes as the ministry intensifies efforts to bring in foreign delegations amid mounting international criticism of the war in Gaza.

During the weeklong visit, the lawmakers are scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana. They will tour the country, including the Gaza border region, where they will plant trees, in a visit designed to highlight Israel’s security, economic and social realities.

The ministry stresses the delegation’s strategic importance, noting that state legislators often influence anti-Israel bills such as those supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Israel hopes the visitors will help block hostile legislation at the state level and promote initiatives combating antisemitism and strengthening US-Israel ties.

The visit was previously announced as part of a broader campaign launched last month to host some 400 delegations involving over 5,000 participants by year’s end, “to help spread the Israeli narrative in international media,” according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, a Foreign Ministry official reports that the cabinet’s plan to debate a separate proposal to establish a new public diplomacy unit in the ministry tasked with countering anti-Israel messaging has been delayed until next week.