Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition

More than 90 people are traveling to Israel with DeSantis.

- By Skyler Swisher Orlando Sentinel writer Gray Rohrer contribute­d to this report. sswisher@sunsentine­l.com, 561-243-6634 or @SkylerSwis­her

TALLAHASSE­E – A sizable contingent of South Florida leaders will travel with Gov. Ron DeSantis for a Cabinet meeting and trade mission next week in Israel, according to a list released by his office Wednesday.

Elected officials in the delegation include Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen, state Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, state Reps. Joseph Geller, D-Aventura, and Chip LaMarca, R-Lighthouse Point, and Bal Harbour Mayor Gabriel Groisman.

More than 90 people are going on the trip, including powerhouse lobbyists and business, education and religious leaders.

The mission will be May 25-31. It will include trade meetings, tourism exchanges and panel discussion­s on Florida issues in Tel Aviv. A Cabinet meeting is scheduled at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.

The governor’s office has not released details on how much the trip will cost taxpayers.

DeSantis says the mission will provide an opportunit­y to strengthen ties with Israel.

“Our delegation includes profession­als and experts from a wide range of policy and business areas, representi­ng every corner of our state,” he said in a prepared statement. “During this trip, we will affirm Florida as the most pro-Israel state in the nation and strengthen the bond between Florida and Israel for decades to come.”

The Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem has come under criticism from open government advocates who say it could violate the state’s Sunshine Law.

The agenda for the May 29 meeting, which was published online for the first time Wednesday, shows that no official action will be taken during the meeting. But there will be a resolution honoring the “Israeli-Florida relationsh­ip” and three presentati­ons on victims of terror, water quality and emergency management. There is no time stated on the agenda for the meeting to begin.

DeSantis’ aides, however, have maintained the meeting will be in compliance with the law. Helen Ferre, DeSantis’ spokeswoma­n, noted the meeting will be live-streamed online.

The Florida Channel, a Tallahasse­e-based publicly owned network covering state government meetings, is still working on ways to broadcast the meeting. But its executive director, Beth Switzer, told the News Service of Florida on Tuesday that nothing has been finalized.

The Florida constituti­on states, “all meetings of any collegial public body of the executive branch of state government … at which official acts are to be taken or at which public business of such body is to be transacted or discussed, shall be open and noticed to the public.”

Curiously, a note is attached at the bottom of the agenda for next week’s Cabinet meeting stating “this agenda does not involve the compositio­n of any collegial body consisting of the Governor and Cabinet as a board, commission, or otherwise.” The top of the agenda, however, declares itself a “meeting of the Governor and Cabinet.”

DeSantis also plans to sign a bill cracking down on anti-Semitism during the trip, and Rep. Randy Fine, R-Brevard County, the sponsor of the measure, is one of the elected officials making the trip.

Fine, who is Jewish, was embroiled in controvers­y in March when he twice called a Jewish constituen­t a “Judenrat,” a term used to describe Jewish Nazi collaborat­ors, for supporting an event in Melbourne discussing Israeli-Palestinia­n situation. Fine also wrote on Facebook, “Those who support BDS aren’t Jews.”

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