State Rep. Alma Hernandez has never made a secret of her passionate support for Israel and Zionism.
The Legislative District 20 Democrat has done ferocious battle with people she perceives as attacking Israel and with anything that smells to her like antisemitism.
Now that commitment has put the work of the state House on hold, and not everybody’s happy about it — neither Senate Republicans nor the Democratic governor. You can also count me in that crowd.
Hernandez has, at times, struck me as going too far in her zeal — for example, by supporting the law that says anyone who does business with the state of Arizona must promise not to boycott Israel. And this session, she has authored a bill, HB 2759, that would restrict criticisms of Israel by students on Arizona campuses, by labeling some student groups as supporters of terrorists.
Both ideas, in my view, are undue restrictions of freedom of speech.
Hernandez, who is Jewish, has in recent months paid an unfair price for her outspokenness. She’s been targeted by pro-Palestinian activists who have published fliers with her home address on them, which endangers her. And police escorted her out the back door after an event at the Fox Theatre March 2, saying there were protesters targeting her out front.
I’ve always thought that if the westside Tucson district Hernandez represents is OK with her approach, and if it doesn’t get in the way of her main duties, then it’s up to the voters to accept or reject her and all her stances.
Now, though, it’s getting in the way. Hernandez’s prioritization of Israel is affecting the activity of the entire state Legislature — shutting down one chamber for a week while she leads a trip to the Holy Land.
In fact, legislators representing most of the Tucson area are, in my view, AWOL from their primary responsibilities today as they tour Israel.
Of the bipartisan group of 17 legislators going, four are Democrats from the Tucson area: Hernandez, her sister Consuelo Hernandez, who represents the south-side Legislative District 21, and the two representatives from LD 18, Chris Mathis and Nancy Gutierrez. Those last two represent Midtown and the Foothills and are my state representatives.
Trip timing questioned
There are layers to the discussion of this trip. The most evident one is to question why they are going to Israel in the middle of the Legislative session.
I’ve asked Hernandez nine questions, including this, via email and while she was traveling, but had not received answers by the time of this writing.
“This is to educate people to what Israel’s all about,’’ she told Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services. “The trip is not a luxury vacation. There’s a war going on.”
She has also pointed out that she has bills regarding Holocaust education going through the Legislature now, and that legislators on the trip will visit a key memorial site in Israel. Of course, Tucson already has a Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center local legislators could visit, not to mention other events.
In late October, I attended a talk by Holocaust survivor and Tucson resident Sidney Finkel at the UA. He has a moving book on his experience anyone can read, called “Sevek: The Boy who Refused to Die.”
The state Senate didn’t like the timing of the trip, even some who proclaim avid support for Israel. They voted 24-4 not to adjourn their work at the request of the House.
“This isn’t about the trip itself to Israel,” said Sen. Justine Wadsack, the Tucson Republican. “I think any one of us would be honored to go on a trip to Israel, but not during session, and not when they’re all getting paid during that week to serve the people of Arizona. If they were taking an unpaid leave, that might be a different story.”
Finances also a question
The issue of money is another layer of concern.
Legislators aren’t paid much, $24,000 per year plus a per-diem when the Legislature is in session. The per-diem is $35 per day for Maricopa County legislators and $251.66 per day for those from Tucson and elsewhere outstate.
What per diem should they be paid for traveling to Israel? I think the obvious answer is none.
Even if they think visiting Israel will benefit their work as legislators, it’s an indirect benefit about issues that are tangential to the Legislature’s main work: A budget, education funding, public safety, water. Israel has not even been among Arizona’s top 10 foreign trading partners.
But as the system functions, Legislators are paid their per-diem for every day they’re in session, so they will get paid while gone.
And that’s not the only financial consideration. The trip is paid for by the group carrying it out, which is called Itrek.
Often in life, and in politics especially, if someone else is paying for you, they want something out of you. Think of all the ads for financial firms offering you a great dinner if you’ll listen to their sales pitch. They’re trying to make sales.
Itrek, which is based in New York City, doesn’t sound like a radical outfit. They focus on giving tours to American graduate students. But it’s pretty clear what they’re looking for, by their own description of their tours.
“Participants return to their personal and professional lives with an authentic understanding and connection to Israel that can have ripple effects on ever-growing circles of influence,” Itrek says on its website.
‘Arizona reaffirms its support’
Unconditionally supporting Israel, in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack and during its war in Gaza, is a primary motivation for some of the delegation.
In January, House Speaker Ben Toma sponsored a resolution supporting Israel that included this line: “That the Members of the Legislature express their support for Israel’s right to pursue without interference or condemnation the elimination of Hamas.”
Toma is on the trip, and his spokesman, Andrew Wilder, explained: “By sending a delegation, Arizona reaffirms its support for our friend and ally Israel.”
That reveals a deeper layer of concern: Unconditional support for Israel while that country’s military is slaughtering civilians, including more than 13,000 children so far, and causing starvation in the Gaza Strip.
We should be able to hold two ideas in our mind at once: Hamas committed a horrific terrorist attack against Israeli civilians on Oct. 7 and continues to do so by holding hostages now, while Israel’s reaction has been one of ghastly disproportionality.
I don’t particularly want my representatives going to Israel during the Legislative session at all. But if they’re going to go during this war, I want them to get unlaundered information about the real issues — not just the Hamas hostage-taking, but also likely Israeli war crimes against Palestinian civilians.
When asked whether the trip would include discussion of the Israeli attack on Gaza, Hernandez said they could of course not go there, but they will be meeting with Palestinian students.
Maybe that will be enlightening. Still, all the evidence shows this is a one-sided trip intended to bolster support for Israel by Legislators whose jobs, truth be told, have vanishingly little to do with foreign affairs.
