New York Governor Kathy Hochul has just landed back in New York after a difficult journey to Israel, where the Democratic politician spoke with Israeli officials, visited a kibbutz in the Gaza Strip, and even mourned the death of her father, who suddenly passed away while she was traveling.
Hochul’s father, John Courtney, died Wednesday night in Florida from a severe cerebral hemorrhage while her daughter was paying a visit at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City. Black-clad Hochul was observed writing a traditional letter in the wall that made mention of both her father and Israel. Before leaving, she appeared to wipe away a tear.
“I pray for my father, who cherished his visit to this Holy Land, and who passed during the night,” Hochul’s handwritten message read, according to the New York Post.
Later on Thursday, Hochul had a private meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, and Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog – to whom she reiterated New York’s support for the Jewish state.
She also gathered at a hotel with four American families whose loved ones were held captive and paid a visit to Jerusalem’s Catholic Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Finally, she met patients who had been wounded in the Hamas attack, speaking to a 21-year-old soldier who had been injured in the leg while attempting to save civilians from an attack at a music festival.
