Angelina Jolie’s father has expressed his desire for his daughter to visit Israel.

Actor Jon Voight, a prominent Republican supporter who is in Israel with former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee this week, said he would “love to see” the Tomb Raider star tour Israel.

He said: “That would be a nice thing.”

Mr Voight, 72, the star of Midnight Cowboy, admitted he did not know his daughter’s views on the Middle East. The two were estranged for many years, but have been back in touch over the last year.

But he said she was well aware of his "affection for Israel and the Jewish people.”

Ms Jolie, whose partner is actor Brad Pitt, once revealed the couple kept a Torah scroll in their house, as part of a mission to expose their children to all different religions.

Mr Voight and Mr Huckabee visited east Jerusalem yesterday for a ceremony marking the development of a new neighborhood.

Mr Voight, who is not-Jewish but is a vocal supporter of Israel and of the Lubavitch organisation, for which he fronts a yearly telethon fundraiser in California, said: "I'm very honoured to be here and very proud to be with all of you who have stood for justice and the legacy of…the Jewish people."

Mr Huckabee, a Fox News presenter who is the former governor of Arkansas, said: "It is inconceivable in many ways that we have to argue and debate whether Israelis can live in Israel -- not just in parts of Israel, but anywhere in Israel they wish to live.”

He is the second Republican politician expected to mount a White House run next year to travel to Israel in recent weeks; former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney also went to Israel on January 13.