Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker has said he is “shaken and angered” while describing his experience in Israel after Hamas, a Palestinian extremist group, launched a deadly attack near the Gaza border over the weekend.
Spokespeople for Booker and Rep. Dan Goldman, both Democrats, had earlier confirmed that the lawmakers were in Israel as the attack unfolded. Both left the country safely shortly after the attacks began, their offices said.
Booker was scheduled to speak at a summit on the Abraham Accords on Tuesday and arrived in Israel on Friday before the event.
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On Sunday, Booker posted a video describing his experience to X, formerly known as Twitter, saying that while he and his team are now safe, “like many we are shaken, angered, and heartbroken by the hundreds killed, the thousands injured, those taken hostage, and all who are directly affected by these sickening terrorist attacks.”
Booker said he was on a jog in the Old City when he got an urgent call from his chief of staff that Israel was under attack and that he needed to get back to his hotel as soon as he could. Once there, he hid in the hotel’s “bomb shelter, or the stairwells of the hotel,” he said, describing “frightened faces...many Americans.”
Booker said he is more committed than ever to working with the senate “to continue supporting Israel’s security and ensuring stability in the region — and I hope one day soon, a long-term and just peace in the region.”
Goldman was reportedly visiting Israel with his family for a Bat Mitzvah and reportedly also took shelter in an interior hotel stairwell during the attack.
“Congressman Goldman is grateful for the assistance of the State Department and Israeli authorities,” a statement from Goldman’s spokesperson, Simon Kanter, read. “He hopes all Americans can come together to support Israel’s right to defend herself from terrorism and war crimes.”
