Rick Perry travel bankrolled by activist rabbi Irwin Katsof

By KENNETH P. VOGEL | 9/20/11 5:33 PM EDT


On the stump, Texas Governor Rick Perry is talking up his travels to Israel. | AP Photo

Rick Perry is talking up his travels to Israel on the stump — a line that’s likely music to the ears of an activist rabbi who made the governor’s last two trips happen.

The rabbi, Irwin Katsof, has spent years recruiting American officials to participate in lavish trips meant to strengthen U.S.-Israel economic and political ties. Perry’s travel was bankrolled by Katsoff’s investment firm, initially called Global Capital Associates, then Doheny Global Group.

In the run-up to a 2007 trip, Katsof’s firm advertised the jaunt as a networking event with world leaders. For $18,500 — airfare not included— participants could accompany Perry and his fellow travelers, former Bush administration cabinet officers John Ashcroft, John Snow and Gale Norton.

Katsof, who also founded a non-profit group called Honest Reporting that monitors the media for alleged anti-Israeli bias, first agreed to speak with POLITICO, but later declined to answer questions and hung up on a reporter when asked whether the trips were intended to curry favor with Perry.

The trips, one in 2007 and one in 2009, reportedly included meetings with Israeli business and political leaders like Shimon Peres, Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Olmert. Participants took a sunset cruise on the Red Sea and enjoyed a “scotch and cigar barâ€