Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem traveled to Israel over Memorial Day weekend at the behest of President Donald Trump, a visit that follows shortly after the shooting deaths of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, D.C.
Noem landed in the Jewish nation earlier Sunday, where she was greeted by Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz and said a prayer for the two embassy staffers, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, who were killed on Wednesday evening outside a museum in Washington. Noem then visited the Western Wall, a holy site, writing in the visitors’ book that “Israel is the chosen people, and the United States stands by you.”
The homeland security secretary also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later on Sunday night, where Noem expressed “unwavering support for the Prime Minister and the State of Israel,” according to Netanyahu’s office. The prime minister’s office noted that the pair discussed the war in Gaza, with Noem showing “great appreciation for the Prime Minister’s policy of building a fence along the Egyptian border and for his conduct of the war.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Israel has kept up its military campaign in Gaza as Netanyahu has continuously called for the elimination of Hamas and the return of all remaining hostages before agreeing to a permanent ceasefire. Also part of his ceasefire demands is the implementation of Trump’s plan for the United States to take control of the strip.
The visit comes shortly after Lischinsky and Milgrim, two Israeli Embassy staffers who were set to be engaged, were shot and killed outside the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington. The suspect in the shooting, 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and the murder of foreign officials, among other charges. The shooting is also being investigated as a hate crime and a “crime of terrorism,” according to Jeanine Pirro, the new interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.