Walker plots Israel trip amid 2016 talk

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is planning a trip to Israel, the latest sign that he may run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

“I haven’t got a date yet, but I’ve had multiple requests to go so we’ll probably try to find a way,” Walker said Monday, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

{mosads}”Previously, in the last four years the consul general’s office from Israel asked me a number of times to come and talk about water technology, other trade missions, so we’ll probably try to figure out some way to do that,” he added.

Walker is gearing up for a possible run at the White House in 2016.

He has brought on Rick Wiley, a top Republican strategist, to prepare for a potential national campaign.

In addition, Walker will head to the Hawkeye State later this month for a major gathering of likely Republican presidential candidates at the Iowa Freedom Summit. He also plans to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. next month.

Traveling to Israel is a symbolic gesture members of both parties make to show support for a crucial U.S. ally and to burnish their foreign policy bona fides before launching White House bids.

Gov. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Tea Party favorite Dr. Ben Carson, both potential GOP contenders, made trips to Israel in late 2014.