Gov. Chris Christie will visit Israel next year in his first foreign trip since taking office, the governor announced today following a meeting with the Israel ambassador to the United States.
Christie’s trip would make him the seventh straight New Jersey governor to visit the Middle Eastern country. He said he will likely visit in the spring with his wife, Mary Pat, and their children.
“We look forward to strengthening our ties,” said Christie, referencing longstanding economic and political connections between New Jersey and Israel.
Christie and the Israeli ambassador, Michael Oren, share a personal connection as well — the governor grew up in Livingston, and Oren was raised in West Orange, two New Jersey towns with a football rivalry.
Christie and his chief of staff, Rich Bagger, met in the governor’s office with Oren; Mark Levenson, chairman of the New Jersey-Israel Commission; Ido Aharoni, Israel’s consul general of New York; and Shlomi Kofman, the deputy consul general.
“Israel faces some acute and unique challenges, and we overcome those challenges through our strong support from the United States in general, and New Jersey in particular,” Oren said.
Christie gave Oren a book of photographs of New Jersey as a gift. Neither took questions from the media.
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2 Responses
of course!
in order to be a presidential candidate he needs to go to Israel first
I am sorry, but New Jersey, nor any other state has a foreign policy to strengthen. The governor of a state should not be meddling in inter national commerce either. I hope the state of New Jersey didn’t pick up the tab on his trips!