Activities of Secretary-General in Israel, 15-16 August

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Israel on the evening of Thursday, 15 August, by car from Ramallah.

In Jerusalem, he first met with the Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein.

The next day, Friday, 16 August, the Secretary-General met with a number of Israeli leaders.  He met with President Shimon Peres and addressed the media.

Next, the Secretary-General met with Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Justice Minister.  Ms. Livni is also Israel’s chief negotiator for the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

The Secretary-General also met Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon before heading to a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  The Prime Minister and the Secretary-General maderemarks to the media.

Then the Secretary-General visited the grave site of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and spoke briefly to reporters.

He later met Shelly Yachimovich, Leader of the Opposition.

Next, the Secretary-General went to Government House, the United Nations headquarters in Jerusalem, for a meeting with Israeli Model United Nations students.

While at the United Nations headquarters, the Secretary-General met Major-General Michael Finn, Head of Mission of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), and separately with Ambassador Martin Indyk, the United States Special Envoy for the negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

The Secretary-General left Israel from Tel Aviv airport in the earlier hours of Saturday, arriving in New York early the same day.