Claims of a 'propaganda trip'
As U.S. officials across the country stand with either side of the Israel-Hamas war, their support, or lack thereof, in a foreign conflict is cause for criticism.
In the latest example, a group of 22 New Jersey state lawmakers are on a three-day trip to Israel sponsored by a pro-Israel group. The trip, which began Saturday, will include meetings with Israeli officials and a visit to a kibbutz along the border with Gaza — a site of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas.
The visit has drawn criticism from both Muslim and Jewish advocates in New Jersey.
Former New Jersey Assembly Member Sadaf Jaffer said the lawmakers' presence abroad is "wrong" amid continued bombings of Gaza by Israel. Several New Jersey-based Jewish organizations echoed Jaffer's frustration and penned a letter to state legislators urging them to boycott the visit, calling it a “propaganda trip rather than any sincere attempt to inform.”