O'Malley to travel to Israel

Gov. Martin O’Malley will travel to Israel in April for an economic development mission.
In November, violence in the Middle East forced O’Malley to reschedule a visit to the region. His itinerary called for an eight-day trip to Israel, Jordan and Ramallah, a Palestinian city on the West Bank.
Before the governor could go, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict erupted when a resurgence in rocket fire from Gaza provoked an Israeli retaliation — an air attack that killed the military chief of Hamas, the Palestinian organization that governs Gaza.
O’Malley’s office said at the time that he didn’t want the trip to be a distraction and looked forward to visiting Israel at a later date with Maryland business, research and academic leaders.
Raquel Guillory, a spokeswoman for O’Malley, confirmed Friday that the trip was back on.
Israel is frequently a stop for politicians prior to White House bids. President Barack Obama went to Israel when he was a presidential hopeful in 2006, and is scheduled to visit there on Wednesday.
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