Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to partner with researchers and universities in Israel to tackle the Sunshine State's problems, including water quality. And to accomplish that, he's heading there next month for his first foreign trip as governor.
"They've made the desert bloom over there," he said.
His trip, which starts May 25, will "strengthen the ties between Florida and the state of Israel," he said. "The values are what matters. Look, we also have a self-interest in this: If you want to see where innovation is going on in the world, you go to Israel."
DeSantis has been to Israel before he became governor, and has seen many of the historic sites already _ even bringing home water from the Sea of Galilee for his children to be baptized.
DeSantis said he promised during his election he would be the "most pro-Israel governor," which included support of the moving of America's embassy from Tel Aviv to its capital, Jerusalem.
Gov. DeSantis wages fight against Airbnb over West Bank policy he calls discriminatory
President Donald Trump, who supported DeSantis during his campaign, visited Israel in 2017. He said last month he would also consider attending the opening of the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem later this year, a move likely to inflame Palestinians who see the embassy as an obstacle to a peace deal.
"I may," he said. "We'll be talking about that."
DeSantis also said Tuesday he supports Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, high ground captured in a 1967 war with Syria, which is good timing "building off the momentum of the embassy move."
"For Israel to surrender that" land would open Israel to attacks, he said.
The more secure Israel is, the more secure the Middle East is because "Israel's enemies are our enemies," he said to thunderous applause.
On Tuesday, DeSantis spoke out against the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, also known as BDS, which he called "thinly veiled anti-Semitism" for its "warfare efforts" efforts against Israel's existence.
Also under the Republican governor's watch, state employees are banned from using Airbnb for reimbursable work-related travel and lodging after the San Francisco-based company created a policy to exclude Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank from their listed offerings.
DeSantis said there probably weren't too many Jews offering their homes on Airbnb, but the decision was about principle.
"It's important to take a stand now," he said. "Companies will have no confusion _ if they follow, they will meet a response from the state of Florida.
"If you let that go, the floodgates open."
DeSantis made the announcement Tuesday at Temple Kol Ami Emanu-El, a Plantation synagogue, alongside Jamal Sowell, who he tapped in January as president and CEO of Enterprise Florida, which focuses on jobs and economic development.
Sowell, who studied in Israel for a semester as a student, said the mission will focus on International trade opportunities, research partnerships and set the "groundwork for science partnerships."
