Trump-Appointed Judges Lead Trip to Israel ‘Bearing Witness’

More than a dozen federal judges, nearly all appointed by Donald Trump, traveled to Israel to discuss the country’s legal system, military compliance with international law, and aftermath of the October attack by Hamas.

The four-day trip this month sponsored by the World Jewish Congress included Patrick Bumatay and Lawrence VanDyke of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, DC Circuit Judge Neomi Rao, and Sixth Circuit Judge Amul Thapar, all Trump appointees. Two others nominated by Barack Obama and George W. Bush also made the trip.

Of the 14 who went, three are trial court judges, eight serve on the US circuit courts, and three are members of the US Court of Federal Claims. All traveled in their personal capacities. Roughly half of the group was Jewish, while the remainder have other religious affiliations, according to organizers.

Federal Claims Court Judge Matthew Solomson, who organized the trip alongside Judges Roy Altman of the Southern District of Florida and Lee Rudofsky of the District of Arkansas, said the visit was “about bearing witness to atrocities.”

“We do interact with academic communities, with student communities, broader legal communities where we live, the bar,” Solomson said. “We thought it necessary or important for judges to have an up-close view of what happened in Israel on October Seventh, and their society’s reaction to it, to be able to adequately and accurately report back to those various legal communities upon our return.”

Judges who spearheaded the trip have been outspoken in their support for Israel in its war with Hamas, which has sparked backlash over civilian casualties.

Solomson posted on LinkedIn last year that he wouldn’t hire law clerks who he believed had expressed support for Hamas.

Rudofsky sent an email to his future law clerks and interns also last year asking them to notify him if they, or any organization they were part of, had done anything that could be seen as antisemitic or in support of Hamas.

Altman has discussed the conflict in several opinion pieces and spoken on panels, and has said his comments aren’t in his judicial capacity.

Israeli Officials

Sara Friedman, chief marketing officer for the World Jewish Congress, said the trip was one of many it sponsors to bring individuals considered to be “influencers” to Israel and learn more about the country and its challenges. Participants have included lawyers, financial professionals, professors, and a cheerleader for the NFL’s New England Patriots, she said.

Judges are “the most influential people we can find because they’re not coming at it from a political agenda,” but rather from a fact-finding role, she said.

The group met with Israeli government and judicial officials, including Amir Ohana, speaker of Israel’s legislative body, the Knesset, former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, members of the Israel Defense Forces, and Israel Supreme Court Justice Ofer Grosskopf, according to an itinerary provided by WJC.

They visited sites related to the Oct. 7 attack, including the Nova festival grounds and Kibbutz Be’eri, watched a film containing footage from body cameras of the Hamas attackers, and met with victims and families of hostages held by Hamas.

The judges also met with Stephanie Hallett, deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Jerusalem, and with Palestinian activist Samer Sinijlawi.

Solomson said there was no discussion of visiting Gaza due to safety concerns.

International Trips

The trip comes amid heated debate over the Biden administration’s decision to continue to provide support to Israel in its war against Hamas, even as the Palestinian death toll climbs.

The World Health Organization warned on Monday that famine is “imminent” in northern Gaza, where between 12.4% and 16.5% of children under five are seriously malnourished. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Federal judges have also recently faced increased public scrutiny over paid trips and vacations, and at times, judges’ failure to disclose them. The judicial branch had no role in organizing the judges’ visit to Israel, a spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the US Courts said.

Duke University law professor Veronica Root Martinez, who specializes in legal ethics, said that as long as the judges disclose travel as legally required, the visit looks like “a ‘learning’ trip that does not run afoul of the code of conduct” for federal judges.

Judges are prohibited from engaging in political speech but their code of conduct permits them to “engage in extrajudicial activities.”

And judges said these types of educational trips abroad are not uncommon–-even to conflict zones.

A Ukrainian judge told Duke Law’s Bolch Judicial Institute earlier this year that judges from California had visited Ukraine and met with counterparts across the country. Ukraine’s been at war with Russia for more than two years.

Judge Timothy Tymkovich of the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, who was also on the Israel visit, said trips to meet judges from other countries foster “an international dialogue on common issues that judges have everywhere.”

Tymkovich, who is of Ukrainian descent, said he has visited Ukraine on judge trips four times, though not since Russia’s 2022 escalation of the conflict. There were “fewer differences than you’d expect” between the conflicts in Ukraine and in Israel, he said.

“Continuing your day-to-day business with the overlay of a military threat is a different way to have to do business,” he said.

“We haven’t had to face armed conflict on our borders in this country for a long time. It’s very humbling to think about judges and lawyers who do face that conflict, and how I shouldn’t take for granted the relative cause of the success that we’ve had,” Tymkovich added.