Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is just the second House leader to visit the Jewish state of Israel and, on landing, vowed ties with the United States will only grow stronger.
"On behalf of our entire delegation, it is an honor to join you in Jerusalem to celebrate Israel's independence and to reaffirm the special bond between our nations," McCarthy told The Jerusalem Post on his visit to share in the celebrations on 75 years of Israel.
"I have visited Israel more times than any other country, and today, I come for the first time as speaker of the House of Representatives. The next 75 years of our important partnership promises to be even stronger than the first 75."
McCarthy landed Sunday afternoon with a bipartisan delegation of 19 members of Congress.
McCarthy was making his first foreign trip as speaker to a place he has visited many times as a strong supporter of Israel, but this is just the second sitting House speaker to visit Israel, according to the Post.
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana welcomed the delegation at the airport.
"Mr. Chairman, it is a great privilege for me to welcome you to Israel," Ohana said, the Post reported.
"Thank you for accepting my invitation and choosing the Knesset to be the first parliament in the world to visit. I greatly appreciate the fact that you came at the head of an important bipartisan delegation.
"I look forward to the joint work between us that will strengthen and fortify the connection between our two parliaments."
McCarthy plans to visit Yad Vashem and lay a wreath at the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in memory of the 6 million Jewish victims, in addition to meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This is a second stop on the trip after the delegation and McCarthy met with Jordan's King Abdullah.
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Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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