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Visitors

The monthly list of visitors on the News page became much too long, so it has a new home here.

February 2024: Recent visitors to Israel include Argentinian President Javier Milei, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Czech Defense Minister Jana Černochová, senior officials from social media giant TikTok, members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Ukrainian healthcare professionals training to establish a center for eye injury victims, leaders of South Africa’s Jewish community, White House Middle East adviser Brett McGurk, the directors of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Christopher Wray and Central Intelligence Agency William Burns, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Kosovan activist Vasfije Krasniqi, senior Palestinian Authority official Hussein al-Sheikh, former Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg, American culture journalist Eve Barlow, Iranian-American artist Hooman Khalili, and the 12-year-old daughter of an Egyptian official for medical treatment.

January 2024: Czech President Petr Pavel, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (again) and special envoy Amos Hochstein, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, the Ministers of Defense of the Netherlands Kajsa Ollongren and France Sébastien Lecornu, UN envoy for sexual violence in conflict Pramila Patten, former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Representative Brian Mast (R, FL-21), UN envoys from 9 countries, 22 European lawmakers, prosecutors from 8 countries whose citizens were murdered or kidnapped on October 7, members of UK’s Sussex Jewish Representative Council; Italian Jewish leader Riccardo Pacifici, VP of the European Jewish Association; the directors of tech giant Palantir, 40 leaders of Jewish community centers, Hadassah leaders, agriculture students from Africa and Asia, Birthright participants on the first trip after Oct. 7, University of Pennsylvania faculty members, 40 American student leaders, American comedians, Christian Zionist donors, Indian journalists and influencers, Iranian opposition leader Vahid Beheshti, Australian media tycoon Lachlan Murdoch, Oracle CEO Safra Catz, journalist Bari Weiss, South Sudanese former slave Simon Deng, and rare birds hybrid motacilla and Pacific diver.

December 2023: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Brown, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander General Michael Kurilla, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, Rep. Brian Mast (R, FL), and former presidential advisors (and family members) Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner; UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps; President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Miriana Spoljaric, members of the European Union parliament and other European lawmakers, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan, an Egyptian diplomatic delegation, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Westchester County (NY) Executive and candidate for Congress (NY-16) George Latimer, former U.S. Representative (and current candidate, D, NY-03) Tom Suozzi; American actors, and comedians and celebrities Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Rapaport, James Maslow, Montana Tucker, Debra Messing, and Brett Gelman; former Miss Iraq (and candidate for U.S. Congress) Sarah Idan; American evolutionary biologist Eugene Koonin, a member of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Academy of Sciences; seven American Muslim leaders; investors and business leaders, including the head of Harvard University’s endowment investment firm; and thousands of foreign workers from Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Malawi.

November 2023: The President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs; Prime Ministers of Bulgaria Nikolay Denkov, Spain Pedro Sánchez, and Belgium Alexander De Croo; U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron; foreign ministers of Denmark Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the Netherlands Hanke Bruins Slot, Bulgaria Mariya Gabriel, and Thailand Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara; Qatari officials for hostage discussions; 16 Members of Parliament from 9 European countries; 9 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives; the former prime ministers of Great Britain Boris Johnson and of Australia Scott Morrison; former New Jersey governor and 2024 presidential candidate Chris Christie; German Air Force commander Ingo Gerhartz; American pop superstar Bruno Mars, American billionaire investor and tech leader Elon Musk, Mayo Clinic neurosurgeon and trauma medicine chief Dr. Teodoro Dagi and many other volunteer physicians; Sheriff Jim Skinner from Collin County, Texas; American rabbis, Australian Actor Nate Buzolic; American volunteer farmers, many community leaders and supporters from around the world, and thousands of migrating cranes.

October 2023: U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin; the prime ministers of Britain Rishi Sunak, Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Netherlands Mark Rutte, Italy Giorgia Meloni, and the Czech Republic Petr Fiala; presidents of France Emmanuel Macron and Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides, Chancellors of Germany Olaf Scholz and Austria Karl Nehammer, EU Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen and the European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, Italian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani, British Foreign Minister James Cleverly (again), 5 U.S. Senators, and later another 10; 10 members of the French Parliament, including former prime minister Manuel Valls; the governors of New York Kathy Hochul and California Gavin Newsom; senior U.S. military advisors, led by Marine three star general Lt. Gen. James Glynn; U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf; U.S Special Operations forces assisting with hostage situation, pop superstar Bruno Mars, Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, 23 American firefighters and other volunteers, and thousands of participants from 90 countries at the 68th Jerusalem March.

September 2023: Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema with a delegation of African business leaders, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, 10 members of the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus, Azerbaijan presidential assistant Hikmet Hajiyev, 9 African-American imams, hundreds of security industry leaders from over 65 countries at counter-terrorism summit, officials from Nassau County (NY), Mayor of Canelones (Uruguay) Yamandú Orsi, former FC Barcelona soccer stars, Emirati interfaith-relations advocate Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, hundreds of swimmers from over 100 countries at World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships, and an 18-year-old from Gaza for life-saving cardiac surgery.

August 2023: 27 Democratic Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT), New York City Mayor Eric Adams, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley, Commander of Air Forces for U.S. Central Command Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, Egyptian intelligence officials, 33 North American Jewish educators, pop star Christina Aguilera, the men’s basketball teams of the University of Arizona and Kansas State, almost 2,000 athletes and officials from 48 countries for the 2023 European Athletics Under-20 Championships, Tour de France cyclist Chris Froome, American pop band Imagine Dragons and jazz musician Tivon Pennicott, indie pop trio AJR, a 7-year-old Jordanian girl for orthopedic surgery, and migrating flamingos.

July 2023: Liberian President George Weah, Zambia President Hakainde Hichilema, Vietnamese Deputy Premier Tran Luu Quang and Trade and Industry Minister Nguyen Hong Dien, Singapore’s Senior Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Gen. Michael Kurilla, special envoy Amos Hochstein, more than 50 U.S. Navy officers and sailors; hundreds of teen athletes from around the world for the JCC Maccabi Games, 350 teens from 6 countries for Diller Teen Fellowship; delegations of presidents of American universities, administrators of five Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and other university officials; 20 police and public safety executives from Georgia and Tennessee, Latin American and British journalists, Belgian security personnel, British actress Dame Helen Mirren, American film director Oliver Stone, English singer Morrissey, American band The Black Keys, former NBA stars Eddie Johnson and Mark West, ‘Stranger Things’ star Noah Schnapp, two boys from Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) for heart surgery, and rare dolphins.

June 2023: The Prime Minister of Lithuania Ingrida Šimonytė, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski, Romania State Secretary Traian Hristea, Vice President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas, Members of U.S. Congress, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Kosovo Enver Hoxhaj, Austria’s Federal Minister for the EU and Constitution Karoline Edtstadler, U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Gen. Mike Kurilla, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska, senior policymakers from Central and Eastern Europe, legal advisers and human rights experts from 6 countries’ permanent missions to the UN, Kosovo prime minister Avdullah Hoti, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former U.S. Secretary of State and current climate envoy John Kerry, 20 members of the British House of Lords, four U.S. cybersecurity officials, dozens of American and Canadian military cadets; Gergely Gulyas, head of the Hungarian prime minister’s office; thousands of automotive industry leaders from more than 60 countries, 20 law-enforcement officials from Georgia (U.S.), a National Conference of State Legislatures delegation of 15 lawmakers from 12 U.S. states, 30 Connecticut residents with disabilities and their family members and caregivers, 180 British athletes and family members at the third annual Veterans Games, 26 educators from six countries, American rock legends Guns N’ Roses and heavy metal band Disturbed, American comedian Dan Ahdoot, actress Alexa Swinton, and administrators from a dozen American universities.

May 2023: Kenyan President William Ruto, deputy speaker of Ukraine’s parliament Olena Kondratiuk; U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Rep. Steny Hoyer (D, MD-05), and other Members of Congress; Georgia Governor Brian Kemp; San Francisco Mayor London Breed; Colombia’s former president Ivan Duque; German lawmakers from the right-wing populist AfD party, Matthias Moosdorf and Marc Jongenactor; U.S. Middle East envoy Brett McGurk and energy czar Amos Hochstein; thousands of biomedical industry leaders from 45 countries (including UAE and Morocco); 1,300 Baha’i from 176 Countries; hundreds of international investors; prominent American Republican donors; OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman; former NBA players Dale Ellis, Theo Ratliff, and Sedric Toney; British pop star Robbie Williams; English progressive band Camel; American authors Jennifer Egan and Margaret Atwood; actor Brett Gelman and musician Ari Dayan; American comedian and TV star Nikki Glaser, Polish writer and Nobel literature laureate Olga Tokarczuk, Argentine actor and singer Felipe Colombo, and an endangered Mediterranean Monk Seal.

April 2023: Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R, SC), Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyễn Hong Diên, 20 bipartisan members of the U.S. House of Representatives led by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, U.S. Ambassador at Large for Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain, Eurovision contestants, 10 muralists from 7 countries, thousands of delegates to the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, Pink Lady butterflies, and almost a million visitors in the first three months of 2023.

March 2023: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger and senior members of his cabinet, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov; the Princess of Thailand, Prof. Chulabhorn Mahidol; 40 government officials and entrepreneurs from Uruguay, led by Industry, Energy and Mining Minister Omar Paganini; 8 U.S. state attorneys general, a government minister from Angola, 8 U.S. mayors, security and policy experts from 30 Middle East and African states, Japanese emergency-medicine professionals, CEOs from India, 10 Ethiopian children for medical treatment, ferroelectricity researchers, women’s ice hockey teams from Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina, Ivanka Trump, actor Rob Lowe, journalist and podcaster Terrell Jermaine Starr, international bird photographers, British digital influencers, Ukrainian chamber music ensemble Kyiv Virtuosi, and a tiny songbird native to China and eastern Siberia.

February 2023: The President of Chad Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, U.S. Senators, UK Labour Party lawmakers, 15 French MPs, international space-industry leaders; cybersecurity chiefs from Bahrain, UAE, Morocco, and the U.S.; thousands of investors and entrepreneurs (and director general of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, technology business leaders from Morocco, tourism professionals from over 40 countries, thousands of runners at Tel Aviv Marathon, jazz musicians and fans, sommeliers and wine experts, Abdulla Abdul Aziz AlShamsi, and chief business development officer of the Dubai International Financial Center, Salman Jaffery) at the sold-out OurCrowd Summit; leaders of over 50 major American Jewish organizations; hundreds of crypto software developers from around the world, hundreds of U.S. marines and sailors for joint drill with IDF, Boeing Defense chief Ted Colbert, UAE-based Omani blogger Asmaa Al-Shehhi.

January 2023: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, UK Minister of State Lord Tariq Ahmad, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, CIA director Bill Burns, a bipartisan delegation of 7 U.S. Senators, 16 French MPs, 13 Polish MPs, commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, hundreds of U.S. military personnel for joint exercise with the IDF, six US Air Force fighter jets, AIPAC leaders, over a thousand French and Moroccan high school students, dozens of European Jewish leaders, UAE Sheikh Khalid Qasmi for medical treatment, progressive metal band Dream Theater, CEO of American Jewish Committee Ted Deutch, 24 young Ukrainian Jews on a Birthright trip, videogame contestants from the U.S. and Arab countries; female tech workers from Bahrain, Morocco, and the UAE; and 2.67 million tourists in 2022.

December 2022: German Defense Secretary Benedikt Zimmer, members of the European Parliament, UN ambassadors from 13 countries, 80 mayors and municipal officials from across the world, 200 Jewish women from Eastern Europe, the mayor of Great Neck (NY), Dr. Pedram Bral, Nazi hunters Beate and Serge Klarsfeld, hundreds of health-technology professionals from 30 countries, hundreds of Judo and IRONMAN athletes, city government officials from around the world at MUNI-EXPO, dozens of Middle East and European academics for a conference on religion and international diplomacy, cardiologists and cardiac-medicine professionals at the Innovation in Cardiovascular Interventions conference, 10 international chefs, young Moroccans on an exchange program, political and civic leaders from around the world at the Jerusalem Leaders Summit, American college students on “Christian Birthright” trips, the UN special representative for children and armed conflict Virginia Gamba, Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) CEO Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Ukranian former POW Illia Samoilenko, Russian-Israeli oligarch Roman Abramovich, a Persian leopard from France and 200 Iranian pink flamingos.

November 2022: Cyprus president Nicos Anastasiades, Director of the Greek foreign ministry Haris Lalakos, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, Missouri Governor Mike Parson with a trade delegation, U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (now special representative for Palestinian affairs) Hady Amr, a senior Ukraine military delegation, 12 New York City council members, hundreds of global food industry leaders and investors, 50 Azerbaijani teachers, 11 national chess teams, American rock band OneRepublic, Croatian duo 2CELLOs, Australian musician Xavier Rudd, Lebanese olive farmers; a premature Syrian baby from a refugee family in Cyprus, a toddler from Mauritius, 4 children from South Sudan, and more wounded Ukrainian soldiers for medical care; 13 American Muslim leaders, 3 Hispanic U.S. Major League Baseball players; business and elected officials from the Bronx (NY), led by Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY); Spaniard Carlota Valenzuela, who walked 6,000 km to Israel; Fujitsu’s chief technology officer Vivek Mahajan; and migrating great white pelicans. In total, over 2 million tourists arrived in Israel between January and October, including a post-pandemic record of over 333,000 in October alone.

October 2022: Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, representatives of 53 nations in the WHO’s European region, Bahraini Agriculture Minister Wael bin Nasser Al Mubarak, Emirati investors and finance leaders, the wife of Vladimir Putin’s chief spokesman, migrating pelicans and cranes, and rare pink whipray and dolphins known as “false killer whales.”

September 2022: UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan; U.S. Senators, including Lindsey Graham and Bob Menendez; Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, Moroccan military leader Lt. Gen. Belkhir el-Farouk, and 200 other participants from 25 countries at military innovation conference; diplomatic delegations from Pakistan (including former minister) and Indonesia, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, U.S. Navy vessels and crews, judges from 71 countries, a business delegation from India, government and business officials from Utah, Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic, Muslim-Zionist counter-terrorism expert Noor Dahri, Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour, American rock band Counting Crows, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, Turkish warship TCG Kemalreis, a group of Japanese Christian Zionists, injured Ukrainian soldiers for medical care, four Moroccan PhD students on an exchange program, and a rare golden fin tuna.

August 2022: New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Members of the U.S. Congress, U.S. Navy 5th Fleet ships and crews, U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, Moroccan national wrestling team, Auburn University’s basketball team, Istanbul Basaksehir soccer team, Australian singer Nick Cave, American actress Amber Heard, Turkish-raised former basketball star Enes Kanter Freedom, children from Chad for heart surgery and from Ukraine for cancer treatments, and hundreds of Jewish teens from 7 countries on a leadership and cultural exchange program.

July 2022: Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Members of the U.S. Congress, head of the U.S. Central Command Michael Erik Kurilla, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, American rapper 50 Cent, American alternative rock band Pixies, Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund, hundreds of “Christian Birthright” participants, 16 law-enforcement leaders from state of Georgia, 40 young European Muslim leaders, 6 presidents of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), 4 Italian Air Force F-35 aircraft and crews, conservative pundit Ben Shapiro, owner of Washington Commanders NFL team Dan Snyder, over 10,000 Jewish athletes from 80 countries for the Maccabiah Games (including a 3-generation family from Uruguay); European soccer teams Paris Saint-Germain FC (with star Lionel Messi), FC Nantes, AS Roma, and Tottenham Hotspur; Boston Celtics star Enes Kanter, the family of fallen “lone soldier” Max Steinberg, European athletes for U18 Championships, over a million other tourists so far in 2022, 13-year-old Gazan girl for a PTSD “resilience visit,” and millions of jellyfish in the Mediterranean Sea.

June 2022: Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Vice Chancellor of Germany Robert Habeck, UK Minister Amanda Milling, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi, German Deputy Chief of Defense LTG Markus Laubenthal, Bosnia and Herzegovina parliament speaker Dragan Čović, 10 senior government officials from the Baltic states and Poland, Iranian anti-regime activists, thousands of education experts, sports managers from around the world, 400 young entrepreneurs from 34 countries, 30 business executives from Latin America, Italian water experts, Egyptian businesspeople, Italian opera legend Andrea Bocelli, filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, German Ballet Dortmund, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, film director Quentin Tarantino, American actress Sarah Rafferty, Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, and four children from four different countries for life-saving heart surgeries.

May 2022: The President of Ecuador Guillermo Lasso with a large delegation, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Donika Gërvalla-Schwartz, Surinamese Foreign Minister Albert Camdin, European Union Parliament president Roberta Metsola, Arizona governor Doug Ducey, lieutenant governors of 6 U.S. states, U.S. CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Kurilla, UK Member of Parliament and Shadow Secretary of State for Health Wes Streeting, 10 members of the German Bundestag Defense Committee, Berkeley (CA) mayor Jesse Arreguín, 65 British injured veterans, American pop-rock band Maroon 5, Australian-British soft rock outfit Air Supply, British rock band Deep Purple, hundreds of Coptic Egyptian pilgrims, World ORT General Assembly delegates, Pulitzer prize-winning novelist Joshua Cohen, Polish Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuka, Ukrainian singer Viktoria Leléka, 14 Muslim Americans of Pakistani background, 12 young European politicians, 20 young Moroccans in a leadership program, over 300 young European soccer players, historian Eric Alterman, Indian artist Vibha Galhotra, and a 5-year-old Ukrainian girl for lifesaving heart surgery.

April 2022: The president of Germany’s Bundestag Bärbel Bas, U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary of State Yael Lempert, 12 U.S. mayors; senior officials from Paraguay, Liberia and Argentina; tourism ministers and officials and industry professionals from over 50 countries; two dozen Christian parliamentarianschildhood cancer survivors, academics from Morocco, British rock band Jethro Tull, Eurovision artists (incl. Ukraine’s Eurovision act), Columbian superstar singer Maluma, and a seven-year-old Ukrainian boy for eyesight-saving medical treatment.

March 2022: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the foreign ministers of UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Egypt for a 6-way summit; German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, British Science Minister George Freeman, Canada’s Trade Minister Mary Ng, former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Homeland Security Undersecretary Robert Silvers, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, French Members of Parliament, Christian parliamentarians, senior UN diplomats, members of the Bundestag (German parliament) defense committee, the commander of U.S. Central Command Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, Turkish and Moroccan businesspeople, 300 U.S. Navy and Coast Guard service members, 240 students from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, musicians (including a Royal Air Maroc pilot) and the national karate team from Morocco, actor Henry Winkler, food writer Joan Nathan, 100 Harvard students, Saudi investor Sabah al-Binali, and young cancer patients from Ukraine.

February 2022:  German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova, dozens of U.S. Members of Congress including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Senator Lindsay Graham, Emirati parliamentarians, senior Sudanese and Turkish officials, a Connecticut business delegation led by Governor Ned Lamont, and heads of major American Jewish organizations.

January 2022: Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos, the commander of the US Naval Forces Central Command and Commander of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, Thyssenkrupp chairman Rolf Wirtz to sign a $3.4 billion submarine deal, 5 Moroccan musicians, an Iranian Jewish woman for medical treatment, 1,700 athletes from 12 countries for Eilat Ironman triathlon, and (possibly) Indonesian government officials to discuss COVID-19.

December 2021: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland; UN ambassadors from 12 countries; 16 young European lawmakers, 80 beauty queens from around the world for Miss Universe contest; hundreds of athletes for the IFAF Flag Football World Championship; youth soccer teams from Russia, Germany, and the UAE; and Congolese children for life-saving heart surgery.

November 2021: Columbia President Ivan Duque with six ministers, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, Members of the U.S. Congress, 12 European Parliament members; Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) President Duarte Pacheco, India’s Chief of the Army Staff Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane; U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley; U.A.E., Bahrain, and U.S. naval forces and 500 U.S. Marines for joint exercises; pop-rap group Black Eyed Peas; Miss Universe, Andrea Meza from Mexico; American firefighters and Home Front Command officers from Surfside, FL; 11 Moroccan scholars of Jewish law, 16 police officers from Georgia (U.S.), hundreds of gamers from 71 countries for the e-sports world championship in Eilat, athletes competing at Israel’s first Ironman; and (reportedly) Saddam Haftar, son of a Libyan warlord.

October 2021: Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the presidents of Switzerland Guy Parmelin and the Democratic Republic of Congo Felix Tshisekedi, the foreign ministers of Sweden Ann Linde and of India Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, United Arab Emirates Air Force Major General Ibrahim Nasser Mohammed al Alawi, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, former U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo, Franciscan Minister General of the Order Fusarelli and Vicar General of the Order Isauro Covili, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, Bahraini businessmen, activists, and officials; air force crews and aircraft from the U.S., India, Jordan, and 5 European countries (including German Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz); Nobuki Sugihara, son of Japanese Righteous Among the Nations Chiune Sugihara; five European astronauts, and (reportedly) a delegation of Sudanese security officials

September 2021: Four U.S. Democratic Senators and Kashmiri-British neurosurgeon Dr. Noor Ul Owase Jeelani for surgery to separate Israeli conjoined twins.

August 2021: Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Egypt’s Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel, Bahrain’s Undersecretary for International Relations Abdullah bin Ahmad al Khalif, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns, US Air Force’s 494th Squadron fighter jets and crews, French soccer teams Lille and Paris Saint-Germain, Luleseged Kassa of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) for heart surgery, and western pygmy blue butterflies.

July 2021: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Czech Defense Minister Lubomir Metnar, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, 38 members of the French parliament, bipartisan U.S. Congressional delegation headed by House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Gregory Meeks; US Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs, Hady Amr; 10 countries’ ambassadors to the U.S. and UN, 25 social-media stars from the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco; leader of the Italian League party, Senator Matteo Salvini; U.S. Air Force troops, F‑35 jets and crews from the U.S. Marine Corps and the British Royal Air Force for joint exercises with the Israeli Air Force; drones and their pilots from 5 countries, a Moroccan Air Force plane, 12 Iranian expats and dissidents, Japanese investors and businesspeople at “Big in Japan” conference, 80 Jewish young adults from Central and South America, NBA Hall of Famer and retired basketball legend Rick Barry, and the chief rabbi Djerba (Tunisia) Rabbi Haim Bitan,

June 2021: Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias; U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (SC), Ted Cruz (TX), and Bill Hagerty (TN); former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin; former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley; former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Sven Koopmans, EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process; British Royal Navy frigate HMS Richmond; Christian Evangelical leader Mike Evans; a delegation of retired American generals and admirals; Jewish leaders from North America; Mansoor Bin Shamekh al-Marzooqi, an Emirati student at IDC Herzliya; over 30 children from 7 countries for heart surgery; and the 17-year-old niece of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, receiving medical treatment in Tel Aviv.

May 2021: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, and the Foreign Ministers of Germany Heiko Maas, Czech Republic Jakub Kulhanek, and Slovakia Ivan Korcok; Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, an American Jewish Committee (AJC) leadership delegation headed by CEO David Harris, and a 5-year-old boy from Ethiopia for heart treatment.

April 2021: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin; UK minister for pandemic response, Michael Gove; aviation, business, tourism, hospitality and arts leaders from the UAE; hundreds of American teenagers to study in Israel; Kurdish and Yazidi babies from Iraq and two young men from Gambia for life-saving medical treatments, and dozens of sharks off Israel’s Mediterranean coast.

March 2021: Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, Brazil’s Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo, incoming UAE ambassador Mohammad Mahmoud Al Khajah, new UN Middle East Peace Coordinator Tor Wennesland, Denmark’s national soccer team, American guided missile cruiser USS Monterey holding joint exercises with the Israeli navy in the eastern Mediterranean, a German air force transport plane en route to Afghanistan, and Nigerian international basketball player Rosalyn Gold-Onwude. The Pope and two American B-52 bombers overflew Israel but did not stop.

February 2021: Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, Egypt’s energy minister Tarek el-Molla, 600 athletes (including exiled Iranian champion Saeid Mollaei) for international judo tournament, and a 6-year-old boy from Ethiopia for cardiac treatment.

December 2020: Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, Portugal’s Foreign Minister Santos Silva, an advisor to Pakistan’s Prime Minister; U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, and UN Ambassador Kelly Craft; Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, Moroccan diplomats, Bahraini women’s rights activist Mashael Al-Shemeri, and 11 young Emirati and Bahraini social-media “influencers”.

November 2020: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, special envoy Elliott Abrams, peace negotiator Avi Berkowitz, and Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs R. Clarke Cooper; Bahraini foreign minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani and Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Zayed Bin Rashid Al Zayani; a Bahraini delegation led by royal family member Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa; Malawi foreign minister Eisenhower Mkaka, diplomats from 13 EU states; the chief medical officer of the Jordanian military for COVID-19 treatment, British master baker Paul Hollywood, cargo flights from Azerbaijan, and 100,000 migrating cranes.

October 2020: Finally, this section is back! Recent visitors include senior Emirati officials led by UAE ministers of economy and finance, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and international negotiator Avi Berkowitz; U.S. Air Force F-35 stealth fighter jets and crews for joint exercises with the Israeli Air Force, and migrating flamingos.

March 2020: Fewer visitors to Israel amid coronavirus crisis. Those who did made it include singer Lionel Ritchie; hip-hop artists Lecrae, Derek Minor, and Tony Tillman; two NFL football players training with IDF soldiers, and hundreds of American troops for joint military exercise.

February 2020: Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Maryland Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford with economic development missions, international investors and executives, delegates from 15 countries at industrial innovation conference, an orca whale, and a record 309,000 tourists.

January 2020: Dozens of heads of state and other world leaders for Holocaust Forum (including Britain’s Prince Charles, Spain’s King Felipe, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, French President Emmanuel Macron, Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez, Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de SousaBulgarian President Roumen Radev, and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence), U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi with six other Members of Congress, American teen sensation Jesse Underhill, Palestinian nurses from the West Bank and Gaza, 500 “Christian Birthright” college students, 28 American university professors, prominent Catholic and Anglican bishops, Austrian biker and YouTube star Fabio Wibmer, and Jordanian singer Aziz Maraka.

December 2019: Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney, 23 UN ambassadors, 11 U.S. Secretaries of State, Arizona political and trade officials, Brazilian federal deputy (and son of Brazil’s President) Eduardo Bolsonaro, WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann, international Talmud scholars, legendary film director Quentin Tarantino, UK celebrity “Naked Chef” Jamie Oliver, Australian comedian Jim Jefferies, hundreds of Chinese and other international investors, 650 Christian businessmen from 40 countries, Chess World Championship players and officials, 25 pro-Israel lawmakers from 13 countries, former Trump campaign aides Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, Lebanese-Swiss businessman Abdallah Chatila, Fiat heir Lapo Elkann, a record 4.55 million tourists in 2019, and dozens of sharks in the Mediterranean Sea near Hadera.

November 2019: Former Australian prime minister John Howard, a bipartisan group of Congresswomen, European Parliament members and advisers; Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie; U.S. Air Force chief David Goldfein; the governors of Rhode Island Gina Raimondo, Michigan Gretchen Whitmer, and others; head of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Andrew Wheeler; soccer superstar Lionel Messi, national soccer teams of Argentina and Uruguay, Argentinian star Lali, comedian Louis C.K., Dutch DJ and music producer Tiesto, singing quartet Il Divo; 40 fighter jets and 800 air-force crew members from U.S., Greece, Germany and Italy for joint exercises; anti-Zionist Satmar rabbi Zalman Teitelbaum; a team of American firefighters, a Cypriot police officer treated for a spinal gunshot injury, international marathon runner Nick Butter; 80 French Holocaust survivors celebrating their bar/bat mitzvah; Arab journalists from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Egypt; and a badger caught in the Israel-Syria border fence.

October 2019: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Vatican diplomat Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, British billionaire businessman and Virgin Atlantic chairman Sir Richard Branson, executives from global food corporations, actor Kevin Spacey, motivational guru Tony Robbins, artists from 15 countries exhibiting at the Biennale for Contemporary Jewish Art, Saudi Arabia’s national soccer team (visiting the West Bank), violinist Vanessa-Mae, Sufi spiritual leader Sheikh Mehmet Adil al-Haqqani, 5,000 Christian pilgrims from 100 countries, 44 Iraqi and Syrian Kurdish children for emergency medical treatment, and 437,000 other visitors in September.

September 2019: Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, outgoing U.S. envoy Jason Greenblatt, actress Demi Lovato, a delegation from the Chelsea Football Club, some 8,300 employees of major American and Mexican companies on corporate incentive trips, almost 50 high-ranking American police officers, singer Lionel Richie, British comedian John Cleese, Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth, TV food celebrity Adam Richman (and his mother), international food bloggers, oud musicians from around the world, 305,000 tourists in August, and thousands of migrating pelicans.

August 2019: 72 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives (41 Democrats and 31 Republicans, but not Reps. Ilhan Omar or Rashida Tlaib), South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, Hessen (Germany) Minister of Digital Strategy and Development Kristina Sinemus; Greek, French, and U.S. navy forces at an international tsunami exercise; Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Miss Universe pageant organizers, 21 flag football teams from 12 European countries, hundreds of teachers, sand sculpture artists, Travel Channel star Adam Richman, Instagram’s “The Dogist” photographer Elias Weiss Friedman, and a whale shark, world’s largest fish.

July 2019: President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, British Home Secretary Sajid Javid, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, former U.S. senator Joe Lieberman, 35 French parliamentarians, Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, leader of the Ukrainian Radical Party Oleh Lyashko, New York State Republican Committee chair Nick Langworthy, a delegation from the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, journalists from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and other Arab countries, international-law experts, Hispanic-studies scholars from 40 countries, former baseball All-Star Alex Rodriguez and fiancée singer Jennifer Lopez (JLo), American rock superstars Disturbed and Bon Jovi, Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin, legendary Canadian-American singer Paul Anka, English singer Sir Tom Jones, Brazilian music superstar Milton Nascimento, guitar legend Slash, Colombian pop star J Balvin, English musician Jamie xx, celebrity physician Mikhail (“Dr. Mike”) Varshavski, 15 Yezidi and Christian survivors from Iraq and Iraqi Kurdish Region, 8 Rwandan children with heart disease for cardiac care, 300 female lacrosse players from 16 European countries, high school students from 78 countries at 50th International Physics Olympiad, and a record 365,000 tourists in June.

June 2019: Chilean President Sebastián Piñera, the national security advisers of the U.S. (John Bolton) and Russia (Nikolai Patrushev), New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, former UK prime minister Tony Blair, former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, governors and congress members from Brazil, Qatari electricity and water experts, French Muslim leaders, American military cadets, Ford Motor Co. chairman Bill Ford, agri-tech experts and investors from over 40 countries, 300 Palestinian farmers, American TV star Jessica Parker, actor Neil Patrick Harris (“How I Met Your Mother”), comedians Martin Short and Reggie Watts, musician Alan Parsons, Puerto Rican “reggaeton” singer Daddy Yankee, 8 presidents and chancellors of U.S. universities and colleges, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft with 15 current and former NFL players, Houston Texans star quarterback Deshaun Watson, 8,000 cybersecurity experts from 80 countries and thousands of other technology investors and entrepreneurs, 800 people from 22 countries at a disability and inclusion conference, three Kurdish children for heart treatments, a Taiwanese engineer who arrived by bike after cycling through 64 countries, thousands of grasshoppers from Syria, and a Lebanese monkey named Tachtouch.

May 2019: UN ambassadors from a dozen countries, a bipartisan delegation of U.S. mayors, Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis and his cabinet (incl. agriculture commissioner Nikki Friedl); pop diva Madonna; senior Amazon officials, law professor Alan Dershowitz; international writers, including acclaimed American author Joyce Carol Oates; 277 U.S. Army veterans; New York Times “52 Places to Go” columnist Sebastian Modak; 1,000 delegates from over 45 countries at “full spectrum healthcare” biomedical conference; Sichuan (China) provincial government and industry officials; Pitzer College President Melvin Oliver; and tens of thousands of tourists from Indonesia, Malaysia, and other Muslim countries with which Israel does not have diplomatic relations.

April 2019: U.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), Ohio rabbi and Green Party presidential hopeful Dario Hunter, U.S. Coordinator for counterterrorism Nathan Sales, a Kurdish delegation from Iraq and Syria, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, “Beverly Hills 90210” stars Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling, Fox TV star Jude Demorest, French singer Emma Shapplin, Turkish TV stars Ozcan Deniz and Asli Enver, 52 Imperial College London students from 30 countries, hundreds of students for an autonomous-car competition, seven senior British Muslim leaders, hundreds of participants from 50 countries at Forbes Under 30 Global Women’s Summit, and hordes of black beetles.

March 2019: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Liberian President George Weah, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, U.S. trade negotiators, Hollywood TV executives, Exxon Mobile executives, thousands of investors and entrepreneurs from 180 countries (!!) for OurCrowd Summit, European investors and company representatives, Mayor of Miramar, FL (and Democratic presidential hopeful) Wayne Messam; U.S. national tour version of the hit musical “Chicago”; filmmakers and activists from Egypt, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Canada and the U.S.; 100 pro-Israel bloggers and social media activists, 21 State Comptrollers representing 42 countries in Europe and Asia, 4,600 athletes from 80 countries for the Jerusalem Marathon, and more than 10 million butterflies.

February 2019: Slovakian Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, UK International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, United Nations ambassadors from 40 countries, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Britain’s MI6 intelligence chief Alex Younger, leaders and supporters from Canadian disability-serving organizations, Kuwaiti businessmen, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, celebrity chefs (including Jamie Oliver), about 1,000 representatives from dozens of communities around the world at Bnei Akiva 90th anniversary gala, hundreds of American officers and servicemen for a joint military exercise, and thousands of runners at the Tel Aviv marathon.

January 2019: Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko, prime minister of Romania (and current EU president) Viorica Dancila, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko (with 150 representatives from 90 Japanese companies), Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Vershinin, US national security adviser John Bolton, rock band Pink Floyd Experience, 15 local leaders from Iraq, senior officials from the United Arab Emirates (who flew directly from Abu Dhabi, over Saudi airspace), and the Russian military, seven families of the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, actor/producer Jeremy Piven, actress and comedian Rosanne Barr, thousands of cybersecurity professionals from 80 countries, hundreds of judo competitors from 53 countries, 100+ competitive surfers from 26 countries, a record 4.12 million tourists in 2018, about 30,000 “medical tourists” every year.

December 2018: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini; the governor of Tucumán province of Argentina, Dr. Juan Luis Manzur; a bipartisan group of incoming members of the U.S. Congress; Canada’s Navy and Air Force chiefs; Vietnam Airlines CEO Thanh Tri Duong, Airbnb VP Chris Lehane; leading scientists from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia; reggae star Matisyahu; former NBA star Dikembe Mutombo, hundreds of dance professionals from 45 countries, thousands of renewable-energy professionals, artists from 17 countries, and navy vessels from France, Italy, Spain, Britain, Greece and Canada.

November 2018: Czech President Miloš Zeman, Chad President Idriss Deby, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, Ghana’s Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Czech Republic Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček, British Trade Minister Liam Fox, Italy’s Deputy Foreign Minister Guglielmo Picchi, UN deputy secretary-general Patricia Espinosa, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, the governor of the Tucumán Province of Argentina Dr. Juan Luis Manzur, members of 57 parliaments (including Vietnam, Sweden, France, Hungary, Italy, Serbia and Bosnia), U.S. special envoy on Iran Brian Hook, behavioral economist Dan Ariely, delegations from 8 “digital nations,” technology executives from major British financial institutions, representatives of 11 UK universities, hundreds of cyclists raising money for pediatric hospital ALYN, elite search-and-rescue units from 6 countries, jazz musicians from 8 countries, actor Morgan Freeman, Argentinian tango dancers, folk singer Dar Williams, former NBA star Dikembe Mutombo, 4,000 students from 60 countries at a mass singalong, the national soccer teams of Guatemala and Scotland, the heads of the Conference of European Rabbis, hundreds of delegates at retail-technology conference, thousands of delegates at International Homeland Security & Cyber Conference, Jordanian officials in a quest for water imports to the Hashemite Kingdom, and almost half a million tourists (!) in October.