(Washington, DC) Next week, Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL), a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, will join a bipartisan delegation of U.S. Representatives on a trip to Israel. During meetings in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the delegation will meet with Israeli leaders Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni, and top military officials including U.S. General Robert Moeller. The delegation will also visit Sderot and the Gaza Strip border, receive a security briefing at Israel's border with Lebanon, and will tour Ramallah and conduct a meeting with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Fayyad. Congressman Deutch will be joined by U.S. Representatives Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Jack Kingston (R-GA), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), John Barrow (D-GA), Tim Murphy (R-PA), Ben Chandler (D-KY), and Larry Kissell (D-NC). The focus of the trip will be bolstering bilateral diplomatic, military, and security relations between the United States and Israel amid the ongoing Middle East peace process and the recent turbulence in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and other neighboring countries. The delegation will depart for Israel on Monday, April 25th.

"The recent upheavals across the Middle East will pose new challenges to the mutual security interests of the United States and Israel, and I look forward to having frank discussions about Israel’s safety and security and the ever-present threat posed by Iran’s nuclear weapons program,” said Congressman Deutch. "There has never been a more apt time for members of Congress to see firsthand Israel's struggle for a defensible border, learn how U.S. investments in missile defense systems like the Iron Dome are saving lives, and explore the cultural and religious ties that have bound our two nations together for generations. For this trip, I reached out to colleagues in Congress from across our nation and the political spectrum because it is critical that our treasured relationship with Israel never fall victim to the partisan divides so frequent in Washington."

Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL) is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a lifelong activist in the pro-Israel community, and a national leader on efforts to thwart Iran's nuclear weapons program. As a Florida State Senator, Deutch passed the nation's first divestment law and enabled Florida to divest over a billion dollars from the Iranian regime. Shortly after his election to Congress, Deutch testified before the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee on how to best identify companies whose business ventures bolster Iran's nuclear weapons program. The Iran Transparency and Accountability Act, Deutch's legislation to enhance transparency and expose sanctionable business in Iran, gained critical momentum in the 112th Congress with its co-introduction in the United States Senate by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Mark Kirk (R-IL).