View of the ‘Apple Store’, in Manhattan. (Photo by Nati Shohat/FLASH90)

Apple’s new Herzliya offices are the talk of town thanks to crisscrossing reports of CEO Tim Cook’s attendance at the inauguration on Tuesday (February 17). The new office complex will hold some 800 employees on eight floors in 12,500 square meters of space that includes a gourmet restaurant, a fish pond and green surroundings.

So far, former employees of Anobit and PrimeSense – both acquired by Apple — have moved into the new digs. Apple also has offices in Haifa and Ra’anana.

GSM-Israel took photos inside the new Herzliya offices of Apple. (GSM-Israel)

According to Haaretz, the Herzliya R&D center will focus work on the areas of storage space, processors and communications chips.

Hebrew media have widely reported that the Apple CEO arrived in Israel on what was meant to be a hush-hush trip. The successor to Steve Jobs was reported to have arrived in Israel over the weekend with his life partner and to have spent his first day at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

Cook’s visit was reportedly timed to coincide with the inauguration of Apple’s new offices in Herzliya. Conflicting reports say Cook did – and did not – make a speech at the official inauguration. Some reports suggest he’ll arrive in Israel next week and only then inaugurate the new R&D center.

According to Channel 2 and Globes reports, Apple — a company known for its concealment– issued a veil of secrecy over Cook’s visit. Senior managers were instructed not to make any mention of Cook’s participation in the new building’s opening event.

That said, the same media sources reported that Cook took to Tel Aviv’s sights and restaurants without bodyguards or the like thanks to the fact that people in Israel don’t recognize him. Cook was reportedly meant to meet with former Israeli President Shimon Peres during his time in Israel.

Cook’s Twitter feed showed him in Cupertino at Apple’s headquarters there on February 17.

Tim Cook’s Twitter feed on February 17, 2015.