“I left with probably more optimism about the Middle East than most might feel right now. If we can get past this war with Hamas, there’s enough other good things happening, with the Abraham Accords and negotiations with other countries on adding to the Abraham Accords, that you might be able to provide enough cover to Palestinians to choose a different way, a nonterrorist way, to operating in that area and finding some common goals through economic growth that are only possible with peace,” she said in discussing the trip with The Minot Daily News.

“I do think there could be a critical mass of folks in the Middle East now, with the neutralizing of Iran, too. That was huge. That was another big takeaway – appreciating how much that meant,” she added, referencing the June 21 U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“That made a lot of countries realize the U.S. is engaged here, she said. “I think President Trump and his leadership in the Middle East at this time is absolutely essential and does create openings for new leadership and new long-term, lasting approaches to peace there.”

The Israel trip is regularly offered to freshmen congressional representatives by the American Israel Education Foundation, the charitable organization affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, America’s pro-Israel lobby.

Submitted Photo Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak, seventh from left, and other congressional visitors pose for a photo at a military base, where they toured the Arrow-3 missile battery and spoke with Israel Defense Forces soldiers on missile defense.

The congressional group met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, current and retired members of the military, Israel’s strategic advisers and Dr. Tal Becker, who negotiated the first round of Abraham Accords for Israel.

Until Israeli hostages are released, there will not be an end to the current war with Hamas, Fedorchak said, noting there’s believed to be 20 hostages of the 50 still alive.

Fedorchak said they met with a brother of a hostage who recently had been shown on an Hamas video, clearly starved and digging his own grave.

“It’s a small country. There’s 10 million people, so almost everybody has a connection to somebody who was a hostage or is a hostage. Everywhere you go, there’s chairs lined up along the street – yellow chairs, 20 of them with the photos of each of the hostages, just on some random street corner – or most people walk around with a yellow ribbon on their lapels. So, it’s tragic to see what’s still going on there,” Fedorchak said.

She said they visited communities next to the Gaza Strip that were attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. The attack killed 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and triggered the war. They also spoke with the agency handling humanitarian aid in Gaza.

“Hamas needs to either lay down their arms or be defeated,” Fedorchak said. “It’s just not a tenable, long term situation. I guess it just really drove home to me, that’s ultimately the solution. This notion of Free Palestine – yes, let’s free Palestine from Hamas and, hopefully, you can create an opening for some more enlightened leaders to provide leadership in that area and help Palestine and the whole Gaza Strip rebuild. But first you’ve got to end this conflict and war.”

Fedorchak said her optimism is growing for a solution in the Russia-Ukraine war as well. She credits Trump for bringing Russian president Vladimir Putin to the table but noted Trump’s response to recent talks has been tempered.

“When Trump is tempering things, you know that we need to be cautiously optimistic,” she said. “Hopefully, after three and a half years, we can cautiously consider that there might be a pathway to peace there.”