Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office said that the GOP presidential candidate hopeful sent drones and other supplies for warfare to Israel this week, according to multiple reports.
In a Tuesday statement from the governor’s office regarding Florida’s “Israel Rescue Operation,” the DeSantis administration said nearly 700 Americans have been flown back to Florida through the project. It also said “two cargo planes carrying 85 pallets of donated supplies have arrived in Tel-Aviv, Israel.”
CNN reported that cargo planes recently sent to Israel by DeSantis also contained drones, body armor and helmets. Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas conducted surprise attacks on civilian targets in Israel earlier this month that killed more than 1,000 people. Israel then declared war on the group and war has since been raging in Gaza.
The Associated Press also reported that DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern confirmed that the drones and other supplies were sent to Israel. Reuters said that Redfern wrote in a statement that the delivery was at the request of the Israeli consul general in Miami. That official, Maor Elbaz-Starinsky, told the outlet that he did not work with the governor’s office regarding weapons or ammunition but that he did work with them to organize a plane carrying rifle parts.
Elbaz-Starinsky said later “that others in the Israeli government had communicated with DeSantis’ office to determine what would be sent to Israel,” per the AP. According to the outlet, DeSantis’ aid to Israel may boost his numbers in the GOP presidential primary polls.
A Marist poll from earlier this month found that 65% of Americans think the U.S. should publicly support Israel in the war. Only 8% said the U.S. should criticize Israel.
As of this week, former President Donald Trump had support from around 57% of Republican voters, based on data from FiveThirtyEight. DeSantis maintained a second-place position with 14.1% of support from GOP voters.