On Trip to Israel, City Council Members Take Rocket Fire

A delegation of New York City Council members experienced a rocket attack yesterday on a trip to an Israeli border town.Just as local officials were explaining how often Sderot, near the border with Gaza, comes under Palestinian Arab fire, an alarm went off, warning of an imminent rocket attack. The 11-member City Council delegation, led by Speaker Christine Quinn, hurried to an underground room from the office of Mayor Eli Moyal.No one was injured, but Ms. Quinn said the afternoon deeply affected her. “To have felt something like that firsthand — and to feel that sense of worry and being completely out of control of the situation — really sticks with you,” she said.The speaker and her colleagues are touring Israel this week on a trip paid for by a New York-based Jewish group. During a separate visit last week, Mayor Bloomberg also visited Sderot.Ms. Quinn said the experience has renewed her support for Israel. “Israel is under attack, and they have every right, in my opinion, to protect themselves, just as we would if our neighbors on any of our borders were attacking us,” she said.At least two of Ms. Quinn’s predecessors as speaker, Gifford Miller and Peter Vallone Sr., took similar trips to Israel, though neither experienced a rocket attack.Mr. Vallone’s son, Peter Vallone Jr., joined Ms. Quinn on a trip several years ago, before she became speaker. He said most of his trip was spent in meetings with officials, and he classified the trip as “above-board.”The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, which Ms. Quinn said does not lobby the City Council, has been paying for lawmakers to travel to Israel for more than two decades, the group’s CEO, Michael Miller, said.“Constituents of the members of the City Council have opinions on the situation in the Middle East, and we have felt for many years that it is important that elected officials see Israel with their own eyes and arrive at their own conclusions,” Mr. Miller said.He said that he could not say how much the trips cost because he is traveling with the group and has no access to records.A spokeswoman for the City Council, Maria Alvarado, said official council trips taken outside the continental United States include travel to Puerto Rico and Ireland. Members have paid for the Puerto Rico trips personally, she said, but she said she could not confirm who paid for the Ireland trips, noting they were taken before Ms. Quinn became speaker.The head of the group Citizens Union, Dick Dadey, said fact-finding trips can be useful for council members — and that yesterday’s rocket attack illustrates how useful they can be. But he said such travel, no matter who is taking it or paying for it, should be part of the next wave of lobbying introspection taken up by the city.“You don’t want to prevent council members from knowing and understanding issues in order to act in the public interest,” Mr. Dadey said. “At the same time, you don’t want them feeling that they’re being influenced by special interests at the expense of the public interest.”

On Trip to Israel, City Council Members Take Rocket Fire

On Trip to Israel, City Council Members Take Rocket Fire

More from the New York Sun

Democrats’ Lynch-Law Justice Comes for Accused Cornell Fraternity Men

Tucker Carlson: ‘Apologist for Adolf Hitler’

To the Barricades — Over France’s Crisis of Debt

Newsom Calls for Threat Assessment as Trump Critics Defend President’s ‘Rambling’ Comments on Iran Nuking L.A., San Diego

Germany’s Spy Scandal Shaping Up as Biggest Since End of World War II

Mayor’s Office Demands NDAs Before Lawmakers Can Visit Veterans Shelter at Center of Funding Dispute Over Transgender Housing

Democratic Talk of Affordability Is Absolutely Hilarious

Former CIA Officer Pleads Guilty to $194 Million Scam

More from the New York Sun

Democrats’ Lynch-Law Justice Comes for Accused Cornell Fraternity Men

Tucker Carlson: ‘Apologist for Adolf Hitler’

To the Barricades — Over France’s Crisis of Debt

Newsom Calls for Threat Assessment as Trump Critics Defend President’s ‘Rambling’ Comments on Iran Nuking L.A., San Diego

Germany’s Spy Scandal Shaping Up as Biggest Since End of World War II

Mayor’s Office Demands NDAs Before Lawmakers Can Visit Veterans Shelter at Center of Funding Dispute Over Transgender Housing

Democratic Talk of Affordability Is Absolutely Hilarious

Former CIA Officer Pleads Guilty to $194 Million Scam