Nutter: U.K.-Israel trip a 'brilliant success'

BACK IN CITY HALL after a 10-day trade mission to the United Kingdom and Israel, Mayor Nutter yesterday said the trip was a "brilliant success" that strengthened ties between businesses in those countries and the Philadelphia region.

"Unfortunately, the city of Philadelphia is not as well-known as we would like it to be, and I think that as a result of this particular business exchange, many more people in both the U.K. and Israel, London and Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Bethlehem, know a great deal more about the city of Philadelphia, what we have to offer," Nutter told reporters.

The mayor and his entourage attended 50 meetings or events, including talks with Prince Albert, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, as a Cheltenham High School graduate, has his own Philly ties.

Nutter said he met privately with Peres and urged him to help stop the closure of the country's consulate in Philly.

"He understood the message that I was delivering, that I am absolutely, 1,000 percent opposed to the closure of that office. He recognized the importance of that office and said he would do all that he could in communicating with the foreign minister about the importance of the Philadelphia office," Nutter said.

Complicating matters, Nutter said, is the fact that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who stepped down last year to fight corruption charges, was sworn back into his old office just last night after being cleared of the allegations.

"I also talked to someone in the foreign ministry office who assured me that this issue will be at the top of the list for the foreign minister as he comes back into his office," Nutter said.

Israel has consulates in New York City and Washington, D.C. The Philly office was rumored to be on the chopping block to make room in the budget for a new consulate in China.