Eva and Mordy Rothberg hosted Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) in their home in Teaneck for a NORPAC event. Serving her first term in the U.S. Senate, Kelly Ayotte has been an outspoken advocate of U.S.-Israel relations as a member of the powerful Armed Services Committee. Just last year she introduced the U.S.-Israel Anti-Terror and Drug Tunnel Cooperation Amendment to the Senate fiscal defense authorization act, which reaffirms cooperation between America and Israel in combating illegal tunneling activity.

At the NORPAC event, Sen. Ayotte explained her top legislative priorities regarding the U.S.-Israel relationship. The most important issue that she is concerned about now is the renegotiation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), an agreement between the U.S. and Israeli governments that is set to expire next year. Although the current MoU has the U.S. giving Israel $30 billion in the form of foreign aid over the course of 10 years, Sen. Ayotte said that she is pushing to grant Israel significantly more money to reflect the country’s growing security threats.

In addition, Sen. Ayotte is committed to reauthorizing sanctions on Iran, specifically for its ballistic missiles program, which is a threat to both the U.S. and Israel. She is an original cosponsor of the Kirk-Menendez bill, a bipartisan bill focused on reinstating tough sanctions against Iran.

Lastly, Sen. Ayotte stated that she is committed to the belief that bipartisanship over Israel maintaining its qualitative military edge is vital to the U.S.-Israel relationship and she is committed to upholding that support in Congress.

Sen. Ayotte is running for re-election in November.