Merrimack,Surpassing New Hampshire — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will visit Israel this weekend, where he plans to meet with the family members of abducted civilians, Israeli Defense soldiers and government officials.

At a town hall on Thursday, he said, "Tomorrow night, I'm leaving to go to Israel because I want to see it for myself." 

Christie will be the first Republican presidential hopeful to visit Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. He said, "I don't think you can try and be president of the United States and be afraid to go and see what's happening on the ground." Adding, "If you really want to lead, you need to go over and show the people of Israel that one person running for president of the United States cares enough to get on an airplane."

The trip was first reported by CNN.

Christie told reporters that late last week the Israeli foreign ministry had contacted him. "They said they appreciated the things I was saying and the stance I was taking," he said.

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Shortly after Hamas's surprise attack on Israel in early October, Christie tweeted,  "We must do whatever it takes to support the State of Israel in its time of grave danger, and we must end the scourge of Iran-backed terrorism."

He has defended Israel, telling Fox News two days after Hamas' assault, "The Israelis have an absolute right to defend themselves and to fair it out and eliminate those people in Hamas who perpetrated this horrible attack."

Christie is also a proponent of providing aid to both Israel and Ukraine and has made itcentral  to his campaign. In August, Christie visited Ukraine and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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