Visits by world leaders to Israel
As Russian President Vladimir Putin becomes the first leader of Russia or the Soviet Union to visit Israel, we take a brief look at groundbreaking visits to the country since it attained statehood in 1948.
1964 – Pope Paul VI, the first pontiff to visit Israel.
1973 – Willy Brandt, the first German chancellor to visit, following establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1965.
1974 – Richard Nixon, the first US president to visit.
1977 – President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, the first Arab leader, followed in 1994 by King Husain of Jordan.
2000 – Jiang Zemin, first Chinese president to visit.
2005 – President Vladimir Putin, the first leader from Russia or the former Soviet Union.
Many states, mostly in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, do not have formal ties with Israel.
Others who do have ties have been wary of sending high-ranking visitors to Israel for fear of damaging their relations with the Islamic world.