When word came of a potential conflict between Israeli soldiers and a flotilla of international aid ships headed to the Gaza Strip, Bob Dold was sitting in a foreign ministry office in Jerusalem.
Dold, the Republican candidate for the 10th Congressional District, was on a week-long trip to Israel with a half-dozen pro-Israel supporters from the district.
"The folks in the foreign ministry recognized early on that this was going to be a public relations stunt," Dold said of the Turkish flotilla's challenge to Israel's blockade of Gaza-bound ships.
"The greatest export out of Gaza right now is not strawberries or anything else, it's rockets headed toward Sderot," Dold said. Israelis "aren't saying don't bring aid into Gaza. They're happy to allow shipments in and out. They take their security seriously, as they should."
Ten activists were killed and dozens wounded Monday during a clash between Israeli commandoes and the passengers of one of six ships. Israeli officials said the soldiers were defending themselves against attack, but Turkey and some European countries condemned the Israeli action as a "massacre."
"Israel was going to be portrayed as the ugly aggressor in this process when in actuality, from my perspective, they're looking to try to find an amicable way to secure their borders to make sure that peace is attainable," Dold said.
This was Dold's first trip to Israel, made, he said, to see first-hand an area critical to America's national security and its one true ally in the Middle East.
In Sderot, on the border with the Gaza Strip, which has been the scene of rocket attacks for more than eight years, Dold said bomb shelters are located every 100 yards or so.
He witnessed a national security test, when sirens were sounded. "Kids were sitting in the bomb shelter when this went off," he said. "We were told yes this is about getting people prepared, but it's also sending a signal to others in the regions that we're prepared."
Besides Israel's minister of strategic affairs, Dold said he met with the Palestinian affairs correspondent for the Jerusalem Post and Danny Terza, the chief planner of Israel's security fence.
Others on the trip were David Stern, Jeff Brincat, Sandy Perl, Larry Kugler, Mike Morgan and Garo Emerzian.
Both Dold and Dan Seals, the Democratic candidate for the seat in the Nov. 2 election, are looking for Jewish-American support. Both attended the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual conference in March in Washington, D.C.