Israel Loses a Friend in Congress  

Israel lost one of its staunchest supporters in the US Congress with the passing this week of Congressperson Kay Granger, at the age of 83.

She was a trailblazing Texas Republican who served as the first female mayor of Fort Worth and went on to spend 14 terms (28 years) in Congress, rising to become the first woman from her party to chair the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

Earlier, as chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations from 2011 to 2017, Ms. Granger allocated funding for the State Department and foreign aid.

In 2016, she took the lead on an Obama initiated $38 billion, ten-year, military aid package for Israel, which she successfully pushed through Congress. The package included 33 Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters, actually built in Ms. Granger’s Texas district.

A former teacher and small-business owner, Ms. Granger served for four years as mayor of Fort Worth before being elected to Congress in 1996. After becoming Appropriations chairwoman in 2019, she wielded immense influence over federal spending and helped steer funds toward Fort Worth-based defense companies such as Lockheed Martin and the helicopter-maker Bell Textron, many of which were involved with Israeli defense contractors as well.

In 1996 while holding down the mayor’s chair in Fort Worth, she ran for an open seat in Congress in a longtime Democratic stronghold covering parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Though Ms. Granger had identified as a Republican to the US Conference of Mayors, the Fort Worth mayoralty is nonpartisan.

Both the Democratic and Republican parties courted her to campaign as their candidate. She decided to run as a Republican and fended off conservative critics in the primary who called her too moderate.

Her victory with nearly 58 percent of the vote, ended the century-long Democratic hold on the district. She was the first Republican woman to represent a Texas district in the House and was re-elected 13 times after her initial win.

In addition to spearheading the 2016 landmark $38 billion military assistance agreement between the United States and Israel, she consistently advocated for full funding of Israel’s security and defense needs through her role on the House Appropriations Committee.

I met Kay Granger at the Texas House of Representatives some 25 years ago as she had evidenced an interest in having Texas establish a state export and foreign direct investment promotion office in Israel, something our company, Atid EDI Ltd., had been doing for other states as well.

We spoke at length about various aspects of such an office, how it could benefit the Texas economy and why Israel was the best location in the Middle East for such an initiative.  While the idea did not germinate further at that time, I was moved by her obvious love and respect for Israel and what we have accomplished here.

AIPAC posted on X that “We are saddened by the passing of Congresswoman Kay Granger, a trailblazer in public service and a steadfast friend of the US-Israel relationship. As Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, she championed life‑saving security assistance to Israel for many years, ensuring that our ally had the resources it needed to defend its people. We extend our deepest condolences to her family, loved ones and the Fort Worth community.”

Regarding her devotion to her home city of Fort Worth, Eric Fox, former Lockheed Martin Aeronautics senior director of government relations posted in the Fort Worth Report, “If there is a Mount Rushmore of Fort Worth, Kay Granger is on it.”

Israel, of course, needs all the friends it can get worldwide, and Kay Granger was steadfast and supportive during her 28 years in Congress. Thank you, Kay Granger, and we pray that your soul will occupy a high place in heaven above and that your memory will be blessed.