Leonardo DiCaprio was in Israel last week with his Israeli-born girlfriend, model Refaeli, when he made negative headlines after his bodyguards were arrested for clashing with photographers near the holy West Wall. The guards were released and cleared of the charges while the photographers were slapped with restraining orders. It seems that DiCaprio may have had some powerful influence in the region, as his people just confirmed that he had a secret meeting with former Prime Minister Shimon Peres.

The two discussed DiCaprio’s environmental documentary, 11th hour, and peace in the Middle East. Peres requested the meeting and asked DiCaprio to use his celebrity to promote peace in the troubled region:

Peres, Israel’s former leader, requested a meeting with the Titanic star after learning of his visit, and asked the actor and activist to use his star power to help promote conservation and peace in the Middle East.

According to sources, DiCaprio was thrilled to meet the Israeli dignitary and promised to help on both issues.

DiCaprio’s representatives have confirmed the meeting took place, which was a high point of an otherwise troubled trip for the actor. Two of his bodyguards face charges after fighting with photographers during DiCaprio’s visit to a holy site.

Forgive me for rolling my eyes when I heard this. I love DiCaprio and I consider him an expert in environmentalism, but peace in the Middle East? And isn’t it a bit one-sided if only Peres and DiCaprio were there?

I guess you can’t blame DiCaprio, though, and it’s not like it was his idea since Shimon Peres requested the meeting. Maybe he can appear in a PSA or something.

DiCaprio’s environmental documetary 11th Hour is listed as being in post-production on IMDB. He started filming in December of 2005, and it is slated for a 2007 release. It is described as “A look at the state of the global environment including visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet’s ecosystems.”

I thought it was really cute when DiCaprio and Vice President Gore made that presentation at the Oscars about how the ceremony had gone green. Here’s a link to the video.

Thanks to PopSugar for the header image.