Governor Cuomo, who is not running for president, took a 15-hour trip to Jerusalem over the weekend. The reasoning behind this, apparently, was to show solidarity for New York's Jewish population, which has been subjected to recent rise in anti-Semitism. Of course, while Cuomo's trip looked very nice, New York's Jewish population is here and not in Israel, but why shouldn't a governor who isn't running for president meet with the Israeli Prime Minister to discuss trade and security measures?
Cuomo's taxpayer-funded jaunt lasted from Sunday morning until just after midnight last night—he apparently announced it to his staffers on Wednesday, which sounds like it must have been fun for them. Cuomo went to Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust museum; the Western Wall, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in addition to meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because "there’s a lot that New York can learn from" Israel about security, as per what Cuomo told reporters.
He's shoved the state headfirst into Israeli politics before—last year he signed an order stipulating that the State of New York would boycott companies boycotting Israeli businesses under the Palestinian-supported Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and he's been to Israel before. He was supposed to travel there in September, but canceled after a train crash in Poughkeepsie.
Anyway, Cuomo's back now, and it appears the most politicking he did overseas was taking photos. When asked whether or not the U.S. embassy should be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Cuomo stayed neutral, saying it was a question for Israelis and not Americans. At least he's more diplomatic than the leader we've got now.
