TRAGEDY

NY Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Dad Dies During Her Trip to Israel

The governor appeared to be in tears as she paid tribute to both the Israeli victims of Hamas’ attacks and her father.

On New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s second day in Israel, she was told that her father, John Courtney, 87, had died in Florida after what is believed to be a brain hemorrhage. Hochul told her team on Thursday about what had happened while at the Western Wall holy site in Jerusalem. According to a clip posted online by a New York Times reporter, she appeared to be in tears as she followed the tradition of placing a note in a hole in the limestone that paid tribute to both the Israeli casualties from Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and her father. The New York Post reported that she wrote, “I pray for my father, who cherished his visit to this Holy Land, and who passed during the night.” Hochul then visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the location where it’s thought Jesus was buried and resurrected, and made an appearance at a hospital housing injured Israeli victims. She then gave a speech to the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations where she noted Israel’s “strong spirit” and “right to defend themselves, full stop.”