Rep. Celeste Maloy visits Jerusalem amid Israel-Hamas war

SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, reaffirmed support for Israel after visiting Jerusalem last week and hearing from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said “victory is within reach,” in the country’s monthslong military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

Maloy, who was first elected in a special election last fall, traveled to the close ally of the U.S. with a contingent of 15 freshman Republican lawmakers organized by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the nation’s top pro-Israel group.

The congresswoman appeared in a video posted by the group on social media, calling it “an honor to be here to show support and solidarity to our Israeli allies and to learn firsthand about some of the things they’re going through.”

Through a spokeswoman, Maloy told KSL.com the group visited the Gaza Envelope — the populated areas in southern Israel near the Gaza border — and northern Israeli provinces evacuated due to the threat of Hezbollah, the militant wing of the Lebanese Shiite Muslim party.

Maloy said she “saw firsthand the destruction left behind by the horrific attacks of (Oct. 7, 2023),” in which Hamas militants killed at least 1,200 Israelis and took some 250 hostages.

“The trip underlined the need to be clear in our foreign policy,” Maloy said. “Israel is seeing allies start to distance themselves, and we need to be clear that America stands with Israel. The same forces threatening Israel hate the USA. Their fight today will be our fight tomorrow if we don’t support our most important ally in the Middle East.”

The U.S. has long been the closest ally and largest provider of military aid to Israel, but tensions have risen between the two nations following the ongoing bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces, during which some 33,000 Palestinians have been killed. Israel came under further world scrutiny after seven aid workers for the World Central Kitchen were killed by an Israeli airstrike last week.

Read the full story at KSL.com.