Riley’s Israel trip, paid for by AIPAC-affiliated charity, cost nearly $20,000. Records show he attended about half of it.

Disclosure forms show Rep. Josh Riley was in Israel for four of the program’s seven days. He checked a box certifying he took part in every activity on the agenda.

By Drumlin Staff
Nov 2, 2026

Rep. Josh Riley, D-N.Y., accepted a nearly $20,000 trip to Israel in August 2025 from a charity affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. According to records filed with the House, he attended about half of the weeklong program. Afterward, he checked a box on his disclosure form certifying that he had taken part in all of it.

The American Israel Education Foundation, or AIEF, paid $19,836.83 for Riley’s airfare, lodging, meals and other expenses, according to the foundation’s own disclosure. That is nearly $2,500 more than AIEF estimated before the trip that it would spend on each lawmaker attending the full program.

Riley’s office did not respond to questions sent Oct. 28 and Oct. 30 about the trip, his disclosure forms, and his votes.

Riley has defended the trip publicly. In a statement to the Ithaca Times in August 2025, he said he supports Israel and its people but not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and that he took his concerns about the war in Gaza directly to senior Israeli officials during the visit. The statement did not address his disclosure filings.

AIEF did not respond to questions sent Oct. 28 about the forms and the trip.

The trip

On the House forms, AIEF describes itself as a nonprofit whose mission includes “educating policy makers and opinion leaders about the U.S.-Israel relationship.” The foundation is affiliated with AIPAC. It sponsors trips to Israel for members of Congress, including newly elected lawmakers.

The foundation’s “Educational Seminar in Israel” ran Aug. 6 to 14, 2025. The final invitee list included 15 House Democrats, among them Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California, along with five congressional staff members. An earlier version of the list had 32 lawmakers.

On his pre-trip form, Riley wrote that the trip “will provide firsthand insight into the regional security, diplomacy, and US - Israel relations, enhancing the ability to make informed legislative decisions.”

The House Ethics Committee approved Riley’s participation on Aug. 5, 2025, for travel from Aug. 6 to 12. That is two days shorter than AIEF’s full program.

Four days out of seven

Flight records attached to Riley’s disclosure show he left Ithaca on Aug. 7 and landed in Tel Aviv at 3:50 a.m. on Aug. 8, after the program’s first evening had ended. He flew out of Tel Aviv at 1 a.m. on Aug. 12 and landed in Syracuse at 10:36 a.m. that day.

That put Riley in Israel for four of the program’s seven days. The agenda shows he was absent for:

• the opening conversation with Tal Becker, a former senior legal adviser to Israel’s Foreign Ministry
• briefings on the Syrian border in the Golan Heights
• a meeting with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
• the final day’s meetings with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Yair Lapid

Riley’s own post-travel form lists the events he attended:

• a tour of sites of the Oct. 7 attacks
• a tour of Israel’s air defense systems
• a meeting with the Palestinian Authority
• a humanitarian aid briefing
• a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog

All of them took place between Aug. 8 and 11.

The same form contains this statement: “I represent that I participated in each of the activities reflected in the attached sponsor’s agenda.” The box next to it is checked. The line below it, which asks travelers to explain any activities they did not attend, is blank. Riley signed the form under a certification that its contents are “true, complete, and correct” to the best of his knowledge.

Riley’s early return was planned and approved in advance. AIEF’s original agenda scheduled the Netanyahu meeting for Aug. 10, while Riley was still in Israel. A revised agenda, also attached to his filing, moved it to Aug. 13, after he had left. Nothing in the records suggests Riley chose to skip it.

What it cost

AIEF reported spending the following on Riley:

Transportation (business class): $11,351.90
Lodging: $1,994.77
Meals: $1,484.52
Other: $5,005.64
Total: $19,836.83

Before the trip, AIEF estimated $17,379.97 per participant for the full eight-day program. Riley attended about half the program, and his total came to $2,456.86 more than that estimate. Lodging came in 40% above the estimate, meals 32% above and “other” costs 108% above. Only airfare came in lower.

In its pre-trip filing, AIEF told the Ethics Committee meals would cost about $175.14 per person per day. Riley’s meal costs work out to about $371 a day over the four days he was in Israel.

AIEF listed its hotels as the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, at $431 a night, and the Magdala Hotel in Tiberias, at $257 a night. On the form, it gave the same reason for choosing each one: “location and affordability.” The group was scheduled to check in at the Magdala at 9:45 p.m. on Aug. 11. Riley’s flight left Tel Aviv a little more than three hours later. The filings do not show whether he was billed for that night.

The largest category after airfare was “other” costs. AIEF itemized them per participant:

Room rentals: $1,768.25
Security: $1,120.32
Speaker fees: $414.76
Meals for contract staff and guests: $413.97
Hotels for contract staff and guests: $380.33
Miscellaneous: $325.40
Tour guide: $307.23
Airport assistance: $178.24
Transportation for contract staff and speakers: $33.97
Photography: $33.22
Entrance fees: $29.95

Part of the increase reflects a smaller group. AIEF’s original estimate assumed 37 invitees. The final list had 20, so fixed costs such as room rentals and security were split among fewer people. Some categories grew far faster than that explains. “Miscellaneous” rose from $50.85 per person in the estimate to $325.40, with no description. Riley was charged the full per-participant share of group costs, including costs for days he was not there.

Filing deadlines

House rules required Riley to file his disclosure within 15 days of returning. For an Aug. 12 return, that deadline was Aug. 27. Riley signed and dated his form Aug. 29, and LegiStorm lists it as filed that day.

AIEF was required to give Riley a completed copy of its own disclosure within 10 days of his return, which was Aug. 22. Its chief legal counsel, Rachel Hirsch, signed the form electronically on Aug. 26.

On the ground

The agenda AIEF attached to Riley’s filing covered:

• Oct. 7 attack sites near the Gaza border
• a briefing at the Arrow missile defense program
• a one-hour meeting in Ramallah with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa
• a humanitarian briefing from COGAT, the Israeli military agency that oversees aid to Gaza
• a dinner panel titled “The Israel-Iran War 46 Years and 12 Days”

AIEF opened the program on Aug. 7 with Becker. In January 2024, Becker argued Israel’s case at the International Court of Justice, where South Africa has accused Israel of genocide. He told the court that if there had been acts that might be characterized as genocidal, “then they have been perpetrated against Israel.” Riley had not yet arrived when Becker spoke.

While the delegation toured

Riley’s days in Israel coincided with a major escalation of the war.

Early on Aug. 8, Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to take control of Gaza City. Later that day, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced Germany would halt exports of military equipment to Israel that could be used in Gaza. On Aug. 10, the UN Security Council met in emergency session at the request of its European members.

Late on Aug. 10, an Israeli airstrike on a journalists’ tent outside al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City killed Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif and six others, including four other journalists. The Israeli military had accused al-Sharif of militant ties, which Al Jazeera rejected.

The UN human rights office counted at least 1,760 Palestinians killed while seeking aid between late May and Aug. 13. Gaza’s Health Ministry reported 42 more deaths from malnutrition between Aug. 6 and Aug. 13. COGAT disputes the ministry’s malnutrition figures and says most of those deaths had other medical causes.

After returning, Riley posted on Facebook that there is “a severe and undeniable humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” He said he had pressed Herzog to surge aid to civilians. He also blamed Hamas for prolonging the war and called on it to release the hostages and disarm.

The votes

Riley’s record on Israel predates the trip. In January 2025, in one of his first votes in office, he was one of 45 Democrats who voted to sanction the International Criminal Court after it issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The bill passed the House 243-140.

On July 15, 2026, Riley voted against an amendment from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., that would have cut $3.3 billion in U.S. aid to Israel. The amendment failed 104-314. House Democrats split nearly evenly: 103 voted yes, 98 voted no and 10 voted present. All 15 Democrats on AIEF’s final invitee list voted no.

About half an hour later, Riley voted against the State Department spending bill that included the aid. All but one House Democrat did the same, and the bill passed 217-209.

On Sept. 3, 2026, Riley was one of 33 Democrats who voted for the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act. The bill would make colleges that take part in “nonexpressive commercial boycotts” of Israel ineligible for certain federal higher-education funds. It passed 237-169. AIEF’s invitees split on it: seven voted yes, seven voted no and one did not vote.

Backlash at home

About a week after Riley returned, activists protested his trip outside his Binghamton office. They pointed to findings, including a December 2024 Amnesty International report, that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. On Sept. 16, 2025, a UN commission of inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Israel and the United States reject that finding.

At a town hall on Oct. 6, 2025, protesters interrupted Riley and criticized him for taking the AIEF trip.

Protesters returned to the Binghamton office in October 2025, and another demonstration was held outside Riley's Ithaca home in September 2026.

A ceasefire took effect in Gaza on Oct. 10, 2025. Since Riley’s trip, Gaza’s Health Ministry has recorded nearly 13,000 additional deaths, including more than 1,500 since the ceasefire. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters. In the same period, approximately 20 Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza, and six people were killed in a Sept. 8, 2025, shooting attack in Jerusalem.

Documents

Riley’s full post-travel filing with the House Clerk, including AIEF’s forms, itineraries and the Ethics Committee approval letter:
https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/gtimages/MT/2025/500032895.pdf
Riley’s 2025 annual financial disclosure, which lists the AIEF trip on its travel schedule: https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/financial-pdfs/2025/10074651.pdf
LegiStorm trip record: https://www.legistorm.com/trip/61263.html
Roll call, ICC sanctions, Jan. 9, 2025: https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2025/roll007
Roll call, Massie amendment, July 15, 2026: https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2026/roll243
Roll call, State Department spending bill passage, July 15, 2026: https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2026/roll247
Roll call, Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act, Sept. 3, 2026: https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2026/roll295