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The Harrington Park, New Jersey native posted a YouTube video, his backdrop the Old City in Jerusalem, on Sunday, Oct. 8.
Booker said he was jogging in Jerusalem on Saturday, Oct. 7, when he got an urgent call from his chief of staff, telling him to get back to the hotel immediately: Israel was under attack.
Hamas, which controls Gaza, launched a surprise attack on Israel, wounding thousands and killing hundreds in the longtime conflict.
“Citizens of Israel," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday. "Not in an operation, not in rounds: At war."
Back at the hotel, Booker joined children and elderly — many Americans — in the stairwells and bomb shelter. He noted frightened faces everywhere.
"There was a sense of fear and worry," Booker said. "We who believe in peace and freedom and human rights, for Palestinians, for Israelis, for all humankind, must reject those who use terror as their weapon."
Maya Krishna-Rogers, a spokesperson for Booker, said he arrived in Israel Friday, Oct. 6 for several days of planned meetings and site visits ahead of the start of an Abraham Accords-focused N7 summit on regional economic integration in Tel Aviv. Booker was scheduled to speak on Tuesday.
Booker and accompanying staff sheltered in place for their safety. They departed Israel Sunday, Oct. 8.
Booker is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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