Five Alabama lawmakers traveled to Israel recently as part of a delegation sponsored by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
They were among 250 state legislators from across the country on the “50 States, One Israel” tour. The program included visits to holy sites, meetings with Israeli officials and a visit to the Nova Music Festival site, where more than 360 people were killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, called the trip inspirational and educational.
Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, described it as “the trip of a lifetime” and said she wanted to learn more about Israel and the United States’ connection to it.
“There are 700,000 Americans living in Israel,” she said. “That alone is such a good reason to defend Israel.”
Rep. Mark Gidley, R-Hokes Bluff, said traveling as a legislator gave him a different perspective than his earlier visits to Israel. “I’ve always been a strong supporter of Israel,” he said. “I wear my Israel-America pin everywhere I go and am a strong advocate for them.”
Lawmakers said no state taxpayer dollars were used. The Israeli Foreign Ministry organized and paid for the tour, including meals, group transportation and site visits.
National opinions more divided
The three lawmakers ADN spoke with were united in their support for Israel. Reps. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville, and Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, were also on the trip but could not be reached for comment last week.
A Pew Research Center survey released Friday found 59% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Israel’s government and 39% say Israel is going too far in its military operations against Hamas.
And while Alabama’s delegation was overseas, the United Nations issued a report accusing Israel of committing acts of genocide in Gaza, where reports say more than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict. Israel has rejected the accusation, saying Hamas is the aggressor, having declared its intent to kill every Jew.
The Associated Press reported Friday that Hamas has accepted some of President Donald Trump’s peace proposal, including the release of the remaining 48 hostages, of which 20 are believed to be alive. Israeli and Hamas officials are meeting in an Egyptian resort Monday in hopes of hammering out a potential ceasefire in Gaza.
American Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee addressed the group of lawmakers last month and was clear about one of the reasons he wanted the group to visit.
“The reason I’m going to say thank you for coming is because Israel right now needs all the friends it can get,” Huckabee said. “And it doesn’t need any more enemies.”
Reminders of war
The lawmakers who spoke with ADN said reminders of war were never far away.
DuBose recalled two missile alerts during the trip.
“When we first arrived in our hotel in Tel Aviv, we were just getting settled in our rooms when an announcement came out that said, ‘There’s an incoming missile. Make your way to the safe room.’ We had not been prepared for that,” she said.
She said hotel staff showed them where to go.
“When we were in the safe room, the hotel employees were alerted on their phones that the missile had been intercepted,” she said. “We learned after that from the time you hear the alarm or the time you’re notified, you have 90 seconds to get in the safe room.”
The second missile alert came on the last day, as the group was preparing to leave.
“We arrived at the airport on a bus when the alert came,” DuBose said. “We were asked to leave our belongings in place and get to a safe room. That missile, too, was intercepted.”
She said bombs could be heard nearby.
“You could turn around and look and see the smoke coming up just a few miles away,” she said.
Visiting attack sites
The group also visited communities near Gaza that were attacked on Oct. 7, 2023. “Probably the toughest day was visiting the homes and the communities that were attacked and hearing the stories of the survivors and friends of the survivors,” DuBose said.
“Hearing stories of young teenagers being brutally killed. That was really, really tough.”
Collins said the Nova memorial site was the hardest part for her.
“Their families have put up pictures, with stories and memorials to their lives, Hebrew on one side and English on the other,” she said. “The memorials are as far as you can see.”
Gidley called the visit to the Gaza envelope “absolutely amazing – that we got to see firsthand some of the remains of the attacks there that happened on October 7. That was a very moving part of the trip.”
Each state delegation planted a tree in the Ofakim Forest as a symbol of “unity, growth and close cooperation between our nations,” according to a video posted on social media by Embassy of Israel.
Five Alabama lawmakers plant a tree in the Okafim Forest in Israel during the 50 States One Israel event on Sept. 16, 2025, in Israel. (Susan DuBose)
Part of the event schedule included visits to Israel’s aerospace and technology industries. Gidley and Collins said those tours showed the close ties between the two countries’ economies,
“The CEO of Israel Aerospace Industry spoke to our group, saying he spent half his time in Alabama,” Collins said.
Gidley also pointed to Alabama’s history with Israel. In 1943, five years before Israel was formally established, the Alabama Legislature passed a resolution recognizing Israel’s right to become a state.
During the trip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the lawmakers, as did Israel President Isaac Herzog.
“My No. 1 takeaway was the fact that they want their hostages back and they want to live in peace,” Gidley said. “Hopefully, the 250 legislators that were there will come back home with a new insight as to Israel’s plight, as to what a resource they are in the Middle East, and how they are not the aggressor.”
“On October 7, they weren’t the aggressor. Hamas was the aggressor. Now they’re only trying to make sure they protect their people in their homeland.”
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