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Ellison to take weeklong trip to Israel, meet with Israeli, Palestinian leaders
Just back from Iraq, he will return to the Middle East on a privately funded trip including 19 Congress members.
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WASHINGTON - Rep. Keith Ellison will spend a week in Israel on a privately funded trip sponsored by the America Israel Education Federation.
The AIEF -- the charitable arm of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) -- is sending 19 members of Congress to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders Aug. 12 through Aug. 18. The group, made up mostly of freshman Democrats, has plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. The senior member on the trip is House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who has gone three times. Rick Jauert, Ellison's spokesman, said that Hoyer personally invited the Minnesota Democrat.
"This is not an ideologically driven trip," said Josh Block, a spokesman with AIPAC. "The trip will have a wide variety of people with diverse perceptions. They will be up early in the mornings and have dinner by 8 [p.m.] so they are done by 11 [p.m.]."
Jauert called the Israel trip "a natural extension" of Ellison's visit to Iraq last weekend. "It's another opportunity to meet and talk to people, to listen and learn. Dialogue is everything to him, and the more he can have, with more people, the better."
Jauert said Ellison's engagement with the Middle East peace issue is important to the diverse communities of his Minneapolis-area district -- from the Jewish Community Relations Council to the patrons of the Holy Land Middle Eastern eatery on Lake Street and Central Avenue. "He hears about it every time he goes back to his district," Jauert said.
The group will stay in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and one night in the northern Galilee region. While in Israel's north, the group will view its border with Lebanon.
The trip to Israel is Ellison's second as a congressman. In the spring, he traveled to the region as part of a congressional delegation with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Later this month, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., will lead an AIEF-sponsored trip comprised of Republicans.
Jake Sherman • 202-408-2723
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