(JTA) — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will not be accompanied by members of the press on his first political trip to Israel.
The trip to Israel “will be a listening tour,” AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Walker’s Our American Revival PAC, told Buzzfeed last week. “It’ll happen mid-May and we won’t be having any press join.”
Walker does not have much foreign policy experience, and the trip is seen as a way to improve his international policy credentials before an expected run for president as a Republican candidate in 2016.
“He is interested in hearing firsthand Israel’s concerns about the future of our alliance and identifying ways to restore the ruptured bonds between our two countries,” Strong said. “He is very concerned about the rise of Iran, the spread of radical Islamic terrorism, and the turmoil in Syria and Iraq, and is interested in understanding the views of the Israelis on how we confront these shared challenges.”
Strong said Walker would discuss his trip once he returns.
Potential Republican candidate Ben Carson was criticized after a GQ account of his trip to Israel in December showed that he did not know how the Knesset works.
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