Stephen Harper travelling party reflects significance of Israel trip

To grasp thesignificance of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's first trip to Israel, one might need only to look at the size and calibre of his accompanying party 208 Canadiansrepresenting diversebusinesses, Jewish organizations and community groups, plus an official delegation of 30 MPs, senators, officials and family.

Harper and his entourage arrived in Jerusalem on Sunday for the six-day Middle East tour.

• Full list of people accompanying Harper on the Middle East tour

Canadians are footing the bill for the official delegation which travelledwith the Prime Minister on government aircraft, including nine Conservative MPs,six cabinet ministers, three senators and the ambassador-delegate to Israel, among others. Opposition party members are not part of the delegation.

According to the prime minister's office, invitations were given to ministersfrom relevant portfoliosand to stakeholders "who can helpCanadastrengthen its ties to the region."

Those stakeholders include some 30 business people and representatives of religious or community groups accompanying Harper's delegationwhotravelled on the prime minister's plane. By virtue of that arrangement, their travel expenses are covered by taxpayers.

The rest of the 208 "accompanying party" members paid their own way to get to Israel, according to the PMO.

The full list includesexecutives from corporationssuch as Air Canada, Bombardier Inc., the Keg Steakhouse, as well as a handfulrepresenting leading law and financial firms.

Joining the business leaders are 21 rabbis anda number of representatives ofJewish organizations, includingB'naiBrith(the oldest Jewish service organization in the world). The party also includes Christian groups, such as the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

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