National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir toured south Florida at the start of his weeklong visit to the US, his office said on Tuesday.
Ben Gvir on Monday visited Bal Harbour, near Miami, where he met with area residents and chatted with a police officer on a bicycle, his office said, recounting the previous day’s schedule.
The far-right politician visited Everglades Correctional Institute, a prison, for a two-hour tour where he met Jewish inmates and observed rehabilitation programs, including an initiative that has inmates train dogs and a ward where prisoners learn art skills. As national security minister, Ben Gvir oversees police and prison services.
Ben Gvir also visited an Israeli supermarket in Hollywood, Florida, and stopped at an “Israeli-Russian-owned” firearms store, which his office said pertained to his role overseeing firearm licensing in Israel.
Ben Gvir met with members of the Boca Raton Jewish community and the Aleph Institute, a group that supports Jewish inmates in US prisons.
The visit to Florida is meant to build ties between Israel and Diaspora Jews and learn about the US justice system, his office said.
After his visit to Florida, Ben Gvir will travel northeast, including a stop near Yale University in Connecticut on Wednesday. Ben Gvir will meet with Yale students and faculty at an off-campus event hosted by Shabtai, a local Jewish group for Yale affiliates that is independent from the university.
On Thursday, Shabtai will host Ben Gvir at another event in New York City.
Ben Gvir has not announced any meetings with government officials in New York. New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s office said there were no plans to meet with Ben Gvir and the NYPD did not respond to a request for information.
Israel’s mission to the United Nations, also based in New York, said it was not aware of any meetings with Ben Gvir.
The US tour is Ben Gvir’s first as an official representative of the Israeli government.
Leftist Israelis have announced plans to protest against Ben Gvir while he is in the US.
The expat protest group UnXeptable shared videos showing an activist shouting at Ben Gvir at a Florida airport and said it will demonstrate against him in New York.
“Itamar Ben Gvir is not welcome in our community,” the group said in a petition against Ben Gvir’s visit. “He does not represent us as Jews or as Israelis.”