In Israel, Christie Challenges US Protesters

All of the major Republican candidates for president have expressed support for Israel in its war against Hamas. On Sunday, Chris Christie became the first of them to go there, seeing the destruction left by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, including the blood-stained remains of homes, the New York Times reports. "I want the people of Israel to know that there are hundreds of millions of Americans who stand with them, who understand the atrocities that were committed, and why in the future we need to stand absolutely shoulder to shoulder with Israel," Christie said at the Kfar Aza kibbutz, where he saw burned-out homes still splattered with blood.

The former New Jersey governor had meetings with Israeli leaders scheduled during his one-day visit, per the AP. Christie, who visited Ukraine in August, has made foreign policy a centerpiece of his GOP campaign. Accompanied on Sunday by the speaker of Israel's parliament, Christie talked about the horror of walking into a home and encountering the smell of death still, a month after the attack. The protesters in the US calling for a cease-fire don't reflect majority opinion in the nation, he said in his remarks. Christie said that if the demonstrators saw what he just saw, at least some of them would change their minds. "Come to Israel and see it for yourself," he told them. (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)