Ben Gvir departs for first official trip to US as minister

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir begins his official US visit with an overnight flight to Florida. Images on social media show the far-right leader surrounded by bodyguards as he made his way through Ben Gurion Airport, before boarding his business class El Al flight to Fort Lauderdale.

Ben Gvir’s office told Israeli media his US visit would include stops in Miami, New York and Washington. At one point, he was reportedly expected to meet with his counterpart in the Trump administration, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, but that meeting is no longer happening, according to a report in Haaretz.

Representatives for the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, Jewish Federations of North America and umbrella group Conference of Presidents all told JTA they were not meeting with Ben Gvir, with the latter three noting that no meeting request had been made.

Ben Gvir had been boycotted by the Biden administration.

Shabtai, a Jewish society based at Yale University whose founders include Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, is hosting Ben Gvir twice: once near Yale’s campus in New Haven, Connecticut, on the evening of April 23, and again the following afternoon on New York’s Upper East Side.

A fundraiser with Ben Gvir set to be held at Brooklyn’s Jewish Children’s Museum was abruptly canceled Friday.