House members visit Israel, attack sites
Reps. Juan Ciscomani and Eli Crane traveled to Israel after an Israeli airstrike killed aid workers trying to get food into Gaza as a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the region.
The two Republican freshman House members from Arizona visited the sites of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, including the Nova Music Festival, and religious sites, such as the Western Wall. They also heard from families of former Hamas hostages and met with Israel’s political leaders, President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Their mission to defeat Hamas is not just crucial for Israel, but for the entire world,” Ciscomani said in a written statement about the trip. “This trip has equipped me and my colleagues with a better understanding of what the Israeli people experience every day, and how the United States can continue to support them in this critical mission.”
Ciscomani and Crane arrived in Israel two days after seven aid workers for World Central Kitchen, the aid organization founded by famous U.S. Chef José Andres, were killed in an Israel Defense Force strike on their convoy in Gaza. The workers were delivering food to besieged Palestinians in Gaza, many of which are under threat of famine.
The tragedy sparked outrage nationwide. The U.S. government, led by President Joe Biden, has remained supportive, financially and rhetorically, of Israel in its efforts to destroy Hamas since the Oct. 7 attacks six months ago. Yet Biden recently has pushed for a temporary ceasefire to get humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“Incidents like yesterday’s simply should not happen. Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians,” Biden said in a statement about the World Central Kitchen attack. “The United States has repeatedly urged Israel to deconflict their military operations against Hamas with humanitarian operations, in order to avoid civilian casualties.”
Ciscomani has remained fully supportive of Israel. He is featured in a video that AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby group in the U.S., posted April 4 to social media. The video is taken at the site of the Nova Music Festival, which has become a memorial to those who were killed on Oct. 7.
“Israel will continue to have my support as a member of Congress, but also as an American,” Ciscomani said in the video.
Crane’s office did not respond to The Arizona Republic’s requests for comment.
The trip was sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation, which is affiliated with AIPAC. In addition to its lobbying work, AIPAC also has a PAC, which it uses to financially support U.S. pro-Israel candidates. Ciscomani has received a total of $18,900 from the group from his 2022 and 2024 congressional campaigns, according to the website Open Secrets. Crane did not receive any funding from the group.
Ciscomani is far from the only Arizona representative to have received funds from AIPAC. Arizona’s congressional representatives received a total of almost $230,000 from the organization in 2022 and 2024. Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., leads the pack with $52,550 from the organization, followed by Sen. Krysten Sinema, I-Ariz., who received $51,300 from AIPAC in 2024.
Israel’s war against Hamas was launched after 1,200 people were killed by militants in the Oct. 7 attack. Since then, more than 33,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Residents have been forced out of their homes and basic supplies and food have been inaccessible. Aid groups such as World Central Kitchen, which paused its operations in the region following the attack, have struggled to get food into northern Gaza because of Israel’s fear that the supplies would go to Hamas.
The world’s global authority on food security, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, recently predicted a famine was either already happening or would begin before July in Gaza.