Israeli PM offers to conduct personal tours of Holy Land for Christian tourists

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to personally welcome Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land and give them a tour of the country's holy sites.

On Sunday, Netanyahu posted Christmas greetings on Facebook and promised that he will personally lead a guided tour "in the footsteps of Jesus and the origin of our Judeo-Christian heritage."

"I'm very proud to be the Prime Minister of Israel. A country that says Merry Christmas, first to its Christian citizens, and to our Christian friends around the world," Netanyahu said, standing on a balcony overlooking Jerusalem.

"I'm proud that Israel is a country in which Christians not only survive, but they thrive! Because we believe in this friendship among people. And we protect the rights of everyone to worship in the holy shrines behind me," he continued.

The prime minister mentioned several Christian pilgrimage sites in Israel, such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City.

"For those of you who come to Israel, I'm going to take a guided tour. In fact, I'll be your guide on this guided tour," he said, noting that it would take place Christmas next year.

Last month, Netanyahu conducted a personal tour for the country's 3,000,000th overnight visitor for 2017.

Ioana Isac, 31, and her partner, Mihai Georgescu, were welcomed by Tourism Minister Yariv Levin while a limousine awaited to take them to a luxury suite at the Dead Sea.

The couple went on a helicopter tour of the country as well as a guided tour along Tel Aviv's boardwalk.

Netanyahu then surprised the couple by granting them a personal tour of the Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem's Old City.

Israel's Tourism Ministry saw a 20 percent increase in Christian visitors this holiday season, finishing up the year with 3.5 million tourists, which was 500,000 more than the previous year.

The ministry's statistics indicated that more than half of the 2.9 million visitors to Israel were Christian, and about 120,000 of the tourists who visited in December that same year were Christian pilgrims.

In anticipation of the arrival of Christian pilgrims this year, the ministry offered free shuttle service on buses every 30 minutes between Jerusalem and Bethlehem beginning on Christmas Eve through Christmas Day.

On Christmas Eve, Christians gathered in Bethlehem for an annual parade and other events, ending in the midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity.

According to reports, many tourists stayed away from the city fearing violence and protests following U.S President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Extra police officers were reportedly stationed at crossings in Jerusalem and Bethlehem during the holiday season.