From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
US speaker, Republican lawmakers tour Hebron, visit Tomb of the Patriarchs
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleUS House Speaker Mike Johnson and a delegation of Republican members of Congress joined Economy Minister Nir Barkat on a tour of Hebron, in the West Bank, yesterday.
During the visit, the group visited the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a flashpoint site revered in Judaism as the burial site of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs and a holy site in Islam.
In a post on X, Barkat says that while partaking in the “special tour” of Hebron, he thanked the US lawmakers “for their support of Israel even in the most difficult times under President Trump.”
The Republican lawmakers are in Israel on a private, previously unannounced trip, organized by Heather Johnston, the founder of a group called the US Israel Education Association, which describes its core value as “the Judeo-Christian heritage and the historical and biblical significance of Israel.”
The night before the Hebron visit, Johnson had dined with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara in the West Bank settlement of Shiloh, making him the most senior US official to ever visit a West Bank settlement.
בסיור מיוחד בחברון יחד עם יו״ר בית הנבחרים, מייק ג׳ונסון ומשלחת חברי קונגרס רפובליקנים. הודיתי להם על התמיכה בישראל גם בזמנים המורכבים ביותר בהובלת הנשיא טראמפ. נמשיך לחזק את הברית ההיסטורית בין ישראל לארצות הברית. ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/RaKd9Vn6kC
— ניר ברקת (@NirBarkat) August 6, 2025
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