Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich will make his first trip to the US since joining the government in March, when he will speak at the annual Israel Bonds conference in Washington, a source familiar with the matter confirms to The Times of Israel.
It is not yet clear whether Smotrich will also meet with officials from US President Joe Biden’s administration during the visit.
The Treasury Department has not responded to a query as to whether its officials will meet with Smotrich, who has a long history of remarks against Arabs, Palestinians, the LGBTQ community, and non-Orthodox Jews.
The Biden administration has yet to engage with Smotrich’s electoral partner, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and US officials say they view Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as their main interlocutor in the new hardline Israeli government.
The March 12-14 trip falls precariously close to the March 23 deadline on passing the state budget, indicating Smotrich is not worried about the chances of approving it.
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this