Inside the Israel lobby’s lesser-known tool for influencing Congress: free travel

While AIPAC has attracted increased scrutiny for its influence on national elections, the Israel lobby also has another route to political influence: travel. Each year, private donors invite large contingents of American politicians on free tours of the Holy Land, making Israel the largest international destination for paid congressional travel. 

Israel accounted for over a quarter of the international gift travel so far this year. House members and their staff accepted 156 invitations to Israel during the first nine months of 2025, significantly exceeding the 117 trips made in the entire previous year.

The second-most-visited country was the United Kingdom, which received less than half as many visitors. 

Gift travel is less common in the Senate because it has fewer members and stricter rules. Over the past three years, Israel was a destination for almost a fifth of privately sponsored international travel by the upper chamber, either alone or as part of a larger itinerary.

The data were compiled from disclosures filed with the House Ethics Office and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. The organizations that sponsor free travel must follow strict rules, and travelers who receive free trips must file disclosures upon their return. However, these files are not always computer-readable, which can complicate efforts at quantitative analysis.

Republicans typically outnumber Democrats, but Israel has found advocates in both parties. Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman and his wife were invited to a $36,000, five-day “fact-finding mission” that included a gala honoring their mental health advocacy. Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer and his staffers have spent a combined 91 days on Israel-related trips since 2021.

By far the largest sponsor of free trips was the American Israel Education Foundation, AIPAC’s nonprofit arm. Because it is registered as a charity, the AIEF can sponsor educational trips that would be prohibited for a lobbying organization. 

On each trip, guests were treated to a tour of the City of David, an archaeological site where ancient finds are used to justify the removal of Palestinian residents from East Jerusalem. Guests were also brought to lunch in the occupied Golan Heights—which Israel annexed from Syria in 1981—and events with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the “nonprofit” whose distribution sites saw the massacre of over 2,000 Palestinian civilians earlier this year.

And there are indications that these trips have helped bolster Israel’s image among policymakers. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries—who took three separate AIEF trips since 2019—reiterated his “ironclad” support for the beleaguered Netanyahu government in 2023, just after a $20,000 junket accompanied by his spouse. Rep. Ritchie Torres, who received his first sponsored trip as a member of New York’s City Council, described it as “love at first sight.” The Bronx Congress member has rekindled the romance four times since 2022, twice as a guest of the AIEF.

While the AIEF provides about 60% of gift travel to Israel, there are several other organizations that provide paid trips with their own ideological bent. The J Street Education Fund, associated with the liberal, pro-Israel lobbying group, hosted 22 travelers on trips that included meetings with West Bank settlers and Palestinian communities facing demolition orders. 

Other sponsors are less moderate. The U.S.-Israel Education Association, which advocates for Israel through a biblical lens, hosted an eight-person trip with several presentations from Heather Johnston, the CEO of the organization, who has publicly called for Israel to “reclaim sovereignty” over the West Bank.  

One of the guests on that trip was Speaker Mike Johnson, who became the highest-ranking U.S. politician to visit an illegal settlement. After meeting with settler leaders and business figures, the Speaker emphasized Israel’s right to the West Bank. “Scripture teaches us that the mountains of Judea and Samaria were promised to the Jewish people,” he reportedly said, “and they belong to them by right.”

While some voters have cooled on Israel, the increased frequency of official visits shows that Israel’s supporters still have a willing audience in Congress. Although AIPAC’s campaign and lobbying machine have attracted more critical attention, paid trips offer another way to provide policymakers with a curated perspective on America’s most controversial ally.