November 16, 2010, Updated September 27, 2012

Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli and her boyfriend, Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio, landed at Ben-Gurion Airport on Sunday along with DiCaprio’s mother, Irmelin, and actor Kevin Connolly from the Entourage TV show, for a short visit to Israel.

While Bar and DiCaprio are doing their best to evade the paparazzi, not so Irmelin and Connolly. On Monday morning the two visited Jerusalem, including the Old City and the Mount of Olives, and were happy to talk to photographers.

Connolly even apologized to them, noting that his strong resemblance to his even-more-famous friend DiCaprio may have misled them.

The group arrived in Israel after a stopover in Jordan and a week-long visit to Egypt with former supermodel Naomi Campbell and her partner.

While in Egypt, the glamorous couple celebrated DiCaprio’s 36th birthday and cruised the Nile River.

Minutes after arriving in Israel, Bar and DiCaprio left the airport under heavy security. As part of the security arrangements leading up to the visit, taller-than-average security guards were instructed to create a sterile zone, so the visitors wouldn’t be disturbed.

The group plans to visit the Western Wall, the country’s top nightclubs and other tourist destinations. Refaeli’s entourage, which will stay at the Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv, is scheduled to leave Israel on Thursday, but may depart earlier, if the media frenzy proves unmanageable.

Three and a half years ago, DiCaprio visited Israel for the first time and stayed with Refaeli’s family in Hod Hasharon. During a visit to the Western Wall tunnels, DiCaprio’s bodyguards started a brawl with paparazzi, which led to the star’s early departure and raised doubts as to whether he would ever visit Israel again.

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Jason Harris

Jason Harris

Executive Director

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