The Washington Post published a report Thursday under the headline "Desantis seeks to hone his foreign experience with a speech to Israel," in which it pointed out that Ron DeSantis (Governor of Florida who ran for the 2024 presidential election) traveled to occupied Jerusalem, as a member of Congress, here to explore sites to the US Embassy and encouraged President Donald Trump to break with diplomatic tradition and recognize the disputed holy city as Israel's capital.

As governor of Florida, DeSantis has visited an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank — a largely Palestinian land he describes as “disputed” — and noted his campaign promise to be “the most pro-Israel state governor in the United States.” Thursday to Jerusalem for his highest-level visit yet to discuss foreign affairs ahead of the 2024 presidential campaign, where he delivered a keynote address at an event that also featured the largely ceremonial presence of Israel's president.

The report notes that "this appearance highlighted DeSantis' close alliance with Israel - an important advantage in the Republican primaries - during what DeSantis described as "a time of needless tension between Jerusalem and Washington." Past Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to reduce the power of the judiciary in his country, a plan that sparked mass protests and alarmed some government officials.

According to the report, "Desantis argued in his speech that the United States has nothing to do with interfering in Israeli policy measures. He said, "We must also in America respect Israel's right to make its own decisions about how it is governed. Your country is a smart country," and later confirmed that he would meet with Netanyahu. DeSantis has gained a reputation in the United States as an ultra-conservative politician who opposed many restrictions related to the emerging coronavirus, imposed restrictions on schools' discussion of gender and sexual orientation, and sought to punish Disney after it opposed the legislation.

According to the newspaper, DeSantis addressed a crowd of several hundred American conservative donors during his visit, which may help distinguish him among strongly pro-Israel Republican candidates, as Joel Rosenberg said that Israel is the “new Iowa” for Republican politicians, comparing it to the state Frequented by hopeful candidates running in 2024, he attended the event in Israel as a correspondent for the Christian news organization Trinity Broadcasting Network and noted Israel's importance to many conservative evangelical voters in the United States as well as Jewish voters.

DeSantis mentioned the presence of his “girlfriend” Miriam Adelson, wife of the late Sheldon Adelson, a senior Republican. Ken Griffin, a major donor to DeSantis’ re-election campaign, also attended the event as a guest of the state governor. DeSantis received a lot of support in Jerusalem when He has criticized Iran's 2015 nuclear deal and called the United Nations biased against Israel.The audience mumbled and clapped as he told an old story about using water from Israel's Sea of Galilee to baptize his children, but many American voters in the audience said they were still weighing their options for the 2024 election. .”