Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to fly to the United States on July 18 to attend Senator Lindsey Graham’s funeral ceremony next week. This was reported by the Ynet portal.

According to its information, a meeting between the Israeli prime minister and US leader Donald Trump during his trip to the United States has not yet been scheduled, but “it is expected to take place at the beginning of next week.”

Earlier, Netanyahu expressed condolences over Graham’s death, calling him “one of Israel’s best friends.” Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also offered words of sorrow. They noted that the politician had always supported Israel.

Republican Senator Graham (from South Carolina) died suddenly on July 11 at the age of 71. He was one of the main authors of a bill to tighten sanctions against Russia. The document was introduced in early April by a bipartisan group of US senators. The bill’s key authors were Graham and Richard Blumenthal (a Democrat from Connecticut). The initiative provides, among other things, for secondary sanctions against Russia’s trading partners. The senators’ proposal specified tariffs of 500% on imports into the United States from countries that buy oil, gas, uranium, and other goods from Russia. In addition to his anti-Russian activities, Graham actively supported Israel and was one of the leading advocates of a US military campaign against Iran.