Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to head Thursday on the first trip by an Israeli premier to Brazil, where he will attend the inauguration of incoming president Jair Bolsonaro.
Netanyahu will also hold talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the sidelines of the January 1 inauguration in Brasilia, an Israeli official told Agence France Presse.
Netanyahu is due to meet Bolsonaro on Friday afternoon in Rio de Janeiro, the official said on condition of anonymity.
"This visit to the biggest country in Latin America will strengthen trade and economic ties between the two countries," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
He will also hold talks with the presidents of Chile and Honduras while there, among other officials, and meet with members of the Jewish community and a pro-Israel Christian group.
He will fly back after the inauguration in the early hours of January 2, the official said.
Bolsonaro has said he wants to follow in the footsteps of United States President Donald Trump and move his country's Israel embassy to Jerusalem.
Netanyahu welcomed the announcement and called it "historic" -- though Bolsonaro later backtracked by saying "it hasn't been decided yet".
Trump's move broke with decades of precedent that the status of the disputed city should be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Netanyahu's meeting with Pompeo is sure to include discussions on Syria following Trump's decision to withdraw the 2,000 US troops there.
Netanyahu, who also serves as foreign minister, has sought to expand Israel's diplomatic reach through technology and defense exports, and has worked to persuade more countries to vote in his country's favor at the United Nations, where it faces frequent criticism over its treatment of the Palestinians.
