Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini visited Israel on 11 and 12 December, where he met with Benjamin Netanyahu. He also held meetings with Israel’s public security minister Gilad Erdogan and tourism minister Yariv Levin. For the occasion, he visited the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Holocaust Memorial museum, but didn’t schedule any visit to the Palestinian territories or met any Palestinian leaders. Netanyahu referred to Salvini as a “great friend of Israel”, as Salvini showed strong support for Israel and critized the EU for not doing so enough, alleging that “whoever wants peace, needs to support Israel”. He also called Hezbollah a “terrorist” group, defying thus the EU official position, only considering the armed-wing of Hezbollah as terrorist. The visit caused great controversy (for his well-known far-right and anti-immigrant policies, and for what some consider to be an anti-Semitist political person)  including in Israel, where some protesters gathered in Jerusalem during Salvini’s evening tour on 11 December. As a response, he stated: “I smile when I hear criticism from the left in Italy and in Israel […] they will have to get over it.”