JERUSALEM - Brazil's president is in Israel for the first official visit by a Brazilian leader, part of a Mideast tour aimed at giving the country a larger say in world affairs.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will also visit Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Iran - Israel's bitterest enemy - in the course of his Mideast trip which comes in his final months in power.

Israeli president Shimon Peres welcomed Silva in a state ceremony Monday.

Silva is meeting Israel's prime minister and other leaders before traveling to the West Bank.

Silva said he was in the region on "a mission of peace."

Silva said Brazil had approved Israel joining Mercosur, South America's four-nation trading bloc, making it the first country to join from outside the continent to join the group.