Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani arrived Tuesday for the first official visit to Israel by a member of the Trump administration.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in the afternoon with Giuliani, an old friend; the two also appeared together at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center for an event.
The former mayor has a law practice which maintains an office in Israel, so he travels back and forth fairly often. He was also appointed by President Donald Trump as the new head of the U.S. cyber security program and serves as the cyber security adviser to the White House.
His response to questions prior to boarding the plane about whether he was bringing a message to the prime minister from President Trump was, “If I am, then it is from him, and in any case it probably is something along the lines of, ‘I like you very much.'”
Ahead of his arrival, the prime minister also cautioned his Likud faction and other government ministers at a news briefing:
“This is the time for responsible diplomacy and education with our friends, the time for diplomacy which will strengthen our cooperation, and increase our trust between the State of Israel and the new government in Washington.”
The prime minister also warned coalition members, “This is not the time for ‘knee-jerk’ reactions, impositions or surprises.”