Italy's far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini on Tuesday began a two-day visit to Israel, tweeting that he was "happy" to return to the Jewish state, where he will hold talks with premier Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials.
"Happy to be back in Israel as a minister, where during these two days I will meet premier Benjamin Netanyahu and other cabinet members as well as civil and religious authorities," read the tweet.
"Hello from Tel Aviv," Salvini tweeted earlier on Tuesday as he boarded a helicopter to fly over northern Israel and "visit tunnels built by Islamic extremists in the area".
He was referring to allegations by Israel that militant Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah has built cross-border underground tunnels - claims being probed by the United Nations.
Salvini, who leads Italy's League, visited Israel with other senior party officials in March 2016 and met lawmakers from the Knesset including former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, who founded the rightwing nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party.
