The New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has visited scenes of suicide bombings in Jerusalem to show solidarity with Israelis but stayed well away from parts of Jerusalem inhabited mainly by Palestinians.
Giuliani, who barred Palestinian President Yasser Arafat from a 1995 concert in New York with world leaders, said America felt a great kinship with the people of Israel and that suicide bombings since September 11 brought the two countries even closer.
Israel has compared its position in combating a 15-month-old Palestinian uprising against occupation to the U.S. anti-terror campaign in pursuit of Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, main suspect in the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Palestinians reject the comparison, saying they are waging a struggle for statehood against an occupying power.
Over 800 Palestinians and 200 Israelis have been killed since the resurgent intifadah.
New York City Mayor-elect Michael Bloomberg and New York state Governor George Pataki accompanied Giuliani on the visit.
Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert temporarily renamed Jerusalem's ancient Jaffa Road, just outside the pizzeria, as New York Street in solidarity with the U.S. city shortly after the attacks which toppled the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
The Palestinian Authority has condemned the recent series of suicide attacks claimed by Islamic militant groups and drawn U.S. and Israeli pressure to crack down on the organisations.
The New York delegation also stopped at Cafe Rimon, the site of last week’s double suicide bombing which killed mainly teenagers out on the town on a Saturday night.
The tour followed a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the wreckage of the World Trade Center on November 30.
Giuliani won over Israelis in 1996 during a previous solidarity mission when he rode a Jerusalem bus line struck that year by Islamic militant suicide bombers.