Interested in a tour of Israel led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? You’re in luck. Tonight at 8 p.m. on Channel 13, PBS will be premiering the hour-long documentary Israel: The Royal Tour. In it, Netanyahu gives journalist Peter Greenberg a tour of the Holy Land, from the snow-topped peaks of the north to the deserts of the south. Together they float in the Dead Sea, take a boat through the Red Sea, and raft down the Jordan river. They visit the ancient site of Masada before traveling to Haifa to see the high-tech world of the Technion.
“It was a great mix from the Mediterranean Sea to the (Negev) desert. We had a lot of fun. He said that he hadn’t been on a bicycle for years because of security,” Greenberg told the Jewish Star. “So we put the bikes on the road and jumped on and were racing and the security guards ran after us.”
Netanyahu uses the tour to discuss the threat of terrorism facing the state of Israel, stressing that Israel must remain strong militarily and economically in order to protect its civilians. With Netanyahu in the United States, where he met with President Obama about Iran’s nuclear threat, the timing of the documentary seems to work in his favor. (Plus he’ll join Greenberg at the Los Angeles premiere.)
Greenberg has been a guest on several royal tours over the years. He’s traveled through Jordan, New Zealand, Jamaica, Peru, and Mexico, each time with the country’s respective leaders. “The angle is the unprecedented access, to look at the country through the eyes of its leader,” Greenberg explained of the project.
“We covered a lot of ground in 56 minutes,” Greenberg said of his time with Netanyahu.
Israel: The Royal Tour will air on Channel 13 on March 6, 8 p.m.; March 9, 12:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Channel 21: March 6, 9:30 p.m.; March 9, 10 a.m.
Hannah Dreyfus is an editorial intern at Tablet.
