New York State Government Leaders Announce Unity Trip to Israel

From left to right; Shelly Silver, Speaker of the Assembly; Governor Cuomo; Dean Skelos, Republican Conference Leader and Jeffrey Klein, Independent Democratic Conference Leader. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)

Yesterday, leaders from New York including Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Senate Majority Co-Leaders Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced a unity visit reaffirming the State of New York’s support in light of the continued threat of attacks by Hamas and other terrorist organizations.  New York is home to more than 1.7 million Jews, representing the largest Jewish community outside of Israel in the world.

Following ongoing conversations with Israeli officials over the past several weeks, the unity trip will take place from August 12th-14th. In Israel, they will meet with the Israeli leadership and visit Israelis affected by the fighting.

Senate Co-Leader Jeffrey D. Klein said, “As the grandson of Holocaust survivors the State of Israel is not only personally sacred to me but a beacon for the values and rights inherent in a Democracy which I hold dear. I am pleased to join Governor Cuomo, Senate Co-Leader Skelos, and Speaker Silver as part of the official New York delegation traveling to Israel this week as a show of support that we will always stand in solidarity with Israel.”

In addition to Governor Cuomo and the legislative leaders, the New York delegation will include Mortimer B. Zuckerman, Executive Chairman of Boston Properties, Publisher of the Daily News, and Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of U.S. News and World Report, as well as members of the Governor’s family: Kenneth Cole, CEO of Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc.; Neil Cole, CEO, President and Chairman of the Board of Iconix Brand Group, Inc.; and Howard S. Maier, Chairman Emeritus of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County.