Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), an emerging leader in the Republican Party who is
considered one of the likely candidates for the 2016 US presidential race, is
scheduled to meet on Wednesday in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu.
Rubio’s visit to the region – he left Saturday for Jordan and
then to Israel – comes a month after another possible 2016 Republican
presidential candidate, Rand Paul, also paid a high-profile visit to Israel and
Jordan.
While that was Paul’s first visit, this will be Rubio’s second
visit to Israel and his first to Jordan. Rubio, considered a staunch Israel
supporter, visited the country for the first time just weeks after he won the
Florida senatorial race in 2010, effectively bursting onto America’s national
political scene.
Last week, Rubio gave the official Republican response
to US President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address. He also graced the
cover of Time Magazine, under the headline in the US, “The Republican Savior:
How Marco Rubio became the new voice of the GOP.”
Rubio wrote on his
website that he was coming to the Middle East on an official trip in his role as
a member of the Senate Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committees.
He
said that in Jordan he will meet King Abdullah II, as well as other government
ministers, and called the Hashemite Kingdom “among our most loyal allies in the
region in trade, cultural exchanges and especially in combating
terrorism.”
He wrote that he also wanted to learn more about the Syrian
civil war and its impact on Jordan and the region.
Turning to Israel,
Rubio wrote that he will meet President Shimon Peres, Netanyahu and other
political, defense, intelligence and business leaders. He also has a meeting
planned with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam
Fayyad.
“America’s friendship with Israel is a truly special one, and we
must continue to do all we can to support this beacon of democracy, religious
freedom and free enterprise in the heart of an unstable region,” he wrote.
“As Iran continues its
pursuit of a nuclear weapon, we must continue to apply pressure through every
possible means in order to prevent a nuclear Iran.”
He wrote that he also
wanted to discuss “the importance of the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt
and how we can maintain it during this time of great uncertainty and tumult in
Egypt.”