Vice Premier Shimon Peres met over the weekend with actor George Clooney in New York and invited him to visit Israel.
Clooney replied that he would be happy to visit the Holy Land and promised to look into the possibility of combining the visit with his upcoming trip to Egypt.
The meeting between the two was held in the public television studios in New York in the presence of Consul General of Israel in New York Arye Mekel, Consul for Media and Public Affairs David Saranga and Yonah Bar-Tal, deputy director-general of Peres' office.
Peres and Clooney met in the studio, and Peres took advantage of the opportunity to invite the actor to Israel.
Clooney replied that he had held a short visit to Tel Aviv in the past, but that he definitely wanted to visit Israel.
During the meeting, an interesting conversation developed between Clooney and Consul General Mekel, who told the film star that he knew him since he was a little boy in Cincinnati in the 1970s.
"I was a Jewish Agency envoy there and I used to be interviewed by your father, who was an anchor on the local television," Mekel said. "Sometimes I saw a small boy, and your father told me that he had brought you to work."
Clooney was moved and asked Mekel where his office was located.
At the Jewish community center, Mekel answered, and Clooney recalled with a smile, "I used to go there a lot because it had the best pool in town."
For more information please visit the NYC Israeli Consulate's blog.
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