Overview
- On August 4, Johnson became the highest-ranking U.S. official to tour the Ariel settlement, declaring that the mountains of Judea and Samaria belong to the Jewish people by right and must remain part of Israel.
- Johnson and his GOP delegation, including Ambassador Mike Huckabee and Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, convened with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to discuss hostage-recovery efforts and regional security threats.
- During his August 3 visit to the Western Wall on Tisha B’Av, he prayed for enduring American support for Israel and placed notes in the wall, framing policy as a matter of faith.
- The weeklong initiative was organized by the U.S.-Israel Education Association as a private trip rather than an official congressional delegation, excluding the U.S. embassy and Israeli embassy from its planning stages.
- The Palestinian Authority condemned his West Bank stop as a “blatant violation of international law,” intensifying scrutiny over U.S. settlement policy during Gaza’s ongoing humanitarian crisis.