Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel late Saturday night for his first trip to the Middle East in his new role.
A State Department press statement said that Rubio will “travel to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates from February 15-18. Secretary Rubio’s engagements with senior officials will promote U.S. interests in advancing regional cooperation, stability, and peace. The trip will center on freeing American and all other hostages from Hamas captivity, advancing to Phase II of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and countering the destabilizing activities of the Iranian regime and its proxies.”
Rubio has been a staunch defender of Israel in the Senate. He canceled a planned trip to South Africa later this month for a G20 summit of foreign ministers, partly because of South Africa’s diplomatic assault on Israel, including its case against Israel…
