Self-Proclaimed ‘Most Pro-Israel Governor’ To Hold Cabinet Meeting In Israel

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis addresses the audience of the first of a series of “We Hear You” Town Halls to hear from older Americans about how the high cost of prescription drugs is affecting them at Florida State University’s Turnbull Conference Center on April 23, 2019 in Tallahassee, Florida. Image by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images for AARP
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will convene a meeting of the state cabinet in Israel later this month, the News Service of Florida reported last week.
DeSantis, a Republican, successfully ran for office last year promising to be the “most pro-Israel governor” in America. He said last week that while in the Jewish state between May 25-31, he may sign a bill recently passed by the state legislature that strengthens protections against anti-Semitism in public schools, Orlando Weekly reported.
DeSantis’s trip was planned with the state economic development agency Enterprise Florida, and the governor will be delivering the keynote address at the Israel-American Business Summit, the News Service reported. But it’s unclear how much taxpayers will be on the hook for transporting the entire state cabinet across the Atlantic – as well as how a cabinet meeting held in a foreign country will be able to comply with the state’s strong laws protecting public access to government procedures. The Florida Channel, the state-funded public access network, is not planning on covering the Israel cabinet meeting, the channel’s CEO said Monday, but a spokeswoman for the governor’s office said that all events in Israel “will comply with sunshine laws.”
Local and state-level political leaders often travel to foreign countries to drum up business opportunities in their areas, or to extend connections between minorities in their communities and their countries of origin. A number of mayors, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, are currently in Israel through a trip arranged by the American Jewish Committee.
Trips like Garcetti’s and DeSantis’s also have a political component, Politico’s Florida Playbook explained on Monday. “Past governors have made this same type of trip during their first year in office,” the newsletter wrote. “A pro-Israel message was a big part of DeSantis campaign, so the trip seems like a natural extension of that political message. DeSantis’ support of Israel is unquestioned, but follow the political math: Florida Cabinet meeting + bill signing + meeting with Israeli heavyweights = great future campaign fodder.”
Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter at @aidenpink.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 3
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 4
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Jerusalem Post editor Zvika Klein, arrested in ‘Qatar-gate,’ says he’s being unfairly prosecuted for his reporting
-
Fast Forward Trump fires national security officials, reportedly at urging of Laura Loomer, far-right Jewish ‘Islamophobe’
-
Fast Forward Display honoring Jewish women graduates of naval academy removed ahead of Hegseth visit
-
Yiddish טשיקאַוועסן: מיידעלע געפֿינט 3,800־יאָריקע קמיע לעבן בית־שמש, ישׂראלTIDBITS: Little girl finds 3,800-year old amulet near Beit Shemesh, Israel
אַן עקספּערט פֿון פֿאַרצײַטיקע קמיעות האָט באַשטעטיקט אַז די קמיע איז געלעגן אויפֿן אָרט פֿונעם אַמאָליקן לאַנד כּנען.
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.