Jack Ciattarelli will bring his campaign to Israel, wants to support the country ‘in every way’
The Republican candidate for N.J. governor differs from U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill in his tone on Gaza.
Jack Ciattarelli, the GOP nominee for New Jersey governor, is bringing his campaign to Israel this week as he argues he’s the most pro-Israel candidate in the race as national outcry over starvation in Gaza escalates.
Ciattarelli, who also visited Israel as part of his unsuccessful bid for governor in 2021, said in an interview Friday that he wants to “partner with and support Israel in every way.”
Ciattarelli said he will meet with military, religious, civic, and business leaders in the country, which he also did in 2021. He will land in Israel Monday morning and return on Friday.
“I want to let the business leaders in Israel know that we’re open for business,” said Ciattarelli, who wants increase New Jersey’s trade with the nation.
As Israel’s war against Hamas nears its second year, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has prompted increased concern among both political parties and international leaders as Palestinians waiting for aid grapple with starvation. President Donald Trump, who endorsed Ciattarelli before he won the GOP primary, recently disagreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that there isn’t starvation in Gaza and said he wants Netanyahu to “make sure they get the food.”
When asked about those concerns, Ciattarelli said “this is one of the other reasons why we go to Israel, to be there and better understand some of these issues on which there may be conflicting news reports here in the United States.”
As for his thoughts on calls for more aid in Gaza, Ciattarelli said “war is not pretty.”
“Israel, as a state, has every right to defend itself and every right to protect its citizens and every right to rid the region of terrorists,” he added.
U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democrat running for governor, is one of those voices calling for more aid to Gaza.
Sherrill called for a humanitarian pause about one month after the Oct. 7., 2023 attack and said it’s important to both defend Israel and aid Palestinian civilians. She soon after called for humanitarian pauses to be extended.
She recently told CNN that Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has been a really bad actor” and “has to be held accountable.”
“We are seeing more and more people coming to: October 7 was horrific, the hostages need to be released, Israel has a right to exist … the starvation of people in Gaza is unacceptable,” Sherrill said. “The idea that in rooting out Hamas you’re going to kill hundreds and hundreds of innocent children and families is not the way the United States conducts their support of their allies.”
Ciattarelli called Sherrill’s rhetoric “dangerous” and said it “emboldens Hamas and puts more innocent lives at risk.”
Sherrill’s campaign said she was not available for an interview on Friday but shared a statement from Karin Elkis, the co-chair of the New Jersey-Israel Commission who is also a vice chair for Sherrill’s campaign.
Elkis said Sherrill is “a staunch ally of the Jewish community, a leader in the fight against antisemitism, a supporter of Israel’s right to exist and has advocated for the return of the hostages and ensuring aid reaches innocent civilians in Gaza.”
She said Sherrill demanded that Netanyahu “articulate a strategy to release the hostages and ensure humanitarian assistance was reaching children and families” when the lawmaker visited the region in February 2024. Elkis also accused Ciattarelli of not calling out “virulent antisemitism” from Trump.
Ciattarelli said in the interview that his trip “sends a very loud and clear message” of how his administration would tackle antisemitism. He said he will implement the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism (which includes examples relating to Israel and is also supported by Sherrill), appoint an attorney general and state police superintendent that “are sensitive to the needs and worries of the Jewish community,” and establish an “advisory council on Jewish relations.”
Ciattarelli, whose campaign promotes a “Jewish Voices Back Jack” group among other identity groups on its website, said the visit is “an important trip to the Jewish community here in New Jersey.”
The Republican candidate said after his 2021 trip that he “learned many valuable lessons meeting with tech innovators, cultural leaders, and victims of senseless violence near Gaza,” and “cultivated key business relationships that will help to spur economic investment” in the Garden State if he were to become governor.
He also wore a campaign-branded kippah at the Western Wall and said he learned how the Iron Dome works and visited the parents of a 5-year-old who was killed by a missile from Gaza.
Morris County Sheriff James Gannon, Ciattarelli’s running mate, will also be in Israel next week in his capacity as sheriff for a different trip with a group of law enforcement.