Sen. Rick Scott meets local leaders in Naples following trip to Israel

Reporter: Jolena Esperto
Published: Updated:
Rick Scott

Senator Rick Scott visited with local leaders in Naples following his recent trip to Israel to discuss ending Hamas.

He made an appearance at the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples at 4720 Pine Ridge Road on Friday, just after 11 a.m.

Scott returned from his sixth trip to Israel on Friday morning, during which he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other high-ranking officials to discuss the United States and Israel’s shared priority of destroying Iran-backed Hamas terrorists that have killed thousands of individuals and continue to hold hundreds hostage, including Americans, since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.

“The message from Netanyahu is real simple: they have to destroy Hamas,” said Scott. “Put it in perspective for a second. Over 1200 people were just murdered. Just cause they’re Jewish, they were murdered.”

In recognition of Holy Week, Scott visited the Western Wall to pray for the people of Israel and for the immediate release of all hostages.

He also toured Kfar Aza Kibbutz, which he first visited in 2019 and was left destroyed during the Oct. 7 attacks.

“Some of these people,” he said. “If you go talk to them, they’ve actually done a whole bunch of things to help Palestinians, and then that information, when they worked in their kibbutz, was used to kill them.”

He also met with soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and family members of individuals held hostage in Gaza.

Along with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Scott met with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, Israeli War Cabinet Member Benny Gantz and War Cabinet Observer Gadi Eisenkot.

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