Senate Candidate Steve Garvey Continues Visit Of Israel This Week

Senate candidate and former baseball star Steve Garvey continued his visit of Israel this week, visiting families of hostages in Israel and cementing his support of Israel during the Israel-Hamas War.

Garvey has long been a supporter of Israel, with his Senate campaign confirming where he stands many times. During the Senate primary debates earlier this year, when other candidates said that they wanted quick cease-fires, only Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Garvey said that they supported Israel. Garvey went even further than Schiff, saying that a two-state solution, at this time, wouldn’t work.

“I stand with Israel, yesterday, today, and tomorrow,” said Garvey in January. “They are one of our greatest allies. With common sense and compassion, we need to give Israel the chance to fight back. We can’t tell them to cease-fire. It is naïve to think a two-state solution can happen in our generation.”

A few months later in April, when campus protests and arrests were rocking the state and country, Garvey slammed the protesters and once again supported Israel, as Schiff pulled back and was more hesitant.

“This is terrorism disguised as free speech,” said Garvey in his speech in Los Angeles about the protesters. “The students are making a statement that they probably don’t really understand what it’s about. What they’re saying is: they’re pro-Hamas. They’re pro-terrorists. They’re supporting terrorism. These organizations aren’t by kids in dormitories who are making a statement that they probably don’t really understand what it’s about. This is organized support of terrorism. I believe demonstrations that allow people to build encampments that obstruct the pathway to classes, and the opportunity to learn, is terrorism.”

Garvey’s show of support for Israel continued this week with Garvey making a visit to Israel to learn more about the situation on the ground. Since arriving in Tel Aviv on Monday, Garvey has visited Tel Aviv, gone to a kibbutz near the Gaza border that was destroyed during the October 7th attack by Hamas, met with the families of hostages, laid a wreath at the hostage memorial, and met with IDF officers.

Where others won’t go, my campaign will.

If you haven’t heard, I’m in Israel this week. On Monday – day 1 – I met with current and former officers with the @idf and was briefed on the war. I then met with the family of one of the hostages taken on the Oct. 7th massacre at the… pic.twitter.com/aWA9fTm5X2

— Steve Garvey (@SteveyGarvey6) June 25, 2024

After joining prayer for release of hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, who had been recently confirmed to still be alive by rescued hostages earlier this month and speaking with his family, Garvey talked with reporters there about his visit so far, as well as about the recent Los Angeles synagogue protests which has been widely seen as antisemitic, even by President Joe Biden.

“After hearing from their family, Garvey said “It was a defining moment in my life, and people said that when you come here that your life will change. And they’re right. It’s one thing to see a video or watch on TV. It’s another thing to actually be here.

“When it comes to violence, people attacking another religion, that’s a hate crime. It’s up to [Los Angeles] DA George Gascon to prosecute these people to the full extent of the law and stop this.”

Garvey’s visit has even seen something of a shift in the election. Many Jewish voters in the state, who had been formerly for Schiff, have been switching over in support of Garvey because of his his stance on the war. In a twitter post on Thursday, Garvey met with many of these Californians currently visiting Israel, thanking them for their newfound support of him.

“On behalf of every Democrat who is Jewish, feeling this way, thank you for your support.“

While at an event in Tel Aviv today, I met Samara, who lives in Burbank, in @AdamSchiff’s congressional district. She’s a Jewish attorney and longtime Democratic voter who has voted for… pic.twitter.com/sDhZ4h4BfW

— Steve Garvey (@SteveyGarvey6) June 26, 2024

“Garvey’s Israel visit is proving to be quite the boon for him,” political advisor Sheila Cruz told the Globe on Thursday. “It is a genuinely good thing he is doing, he’s getting information on the war directly from there, he now has one over Schiff as the last candidate to visit Israel, and now has a growing edge with Jewish voters.”

“2% of California’s population is Jewish, with LA County being 7% Jewish and Los Angeles the city 17.5%. For the state total, that’s 1.2 million. 2% may seem like a small cut when it comes to voters, but remember, the majority tend to vote Democrat, and in the case of the Senate election, support Schiff. And Garvey has really seemed to begin tipping that scale with his visit. He’s also come out more strongly with Israel, attracting more independents. This has been a good trip for Garvey. The Schiff campaign, which hasn’t been worried too much about Garvey so far, is probably shifting a little more uncomfortably this week as Garvey is in Israel doing this.”

Garvey is to stay in Israel through the end of the week.