Fred Thompson, US presidential hopeful and former star of the hit television series “Law & Order,” is scheduled to make his first visit to Israel in the coming days.

Thompson, who is said to have a fair chance of winning the Republican presidential nomination, will meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and various other senior officials during his tour of Israel.

Of the dozen or so candidates contesting the nomination, Thompson is among the most supportive of Israel.

The former actor, who has also served as a US senator, bucked popular international sentiment by insisting in a hard-hitting editorial column that Israel has been almost too careful in its war on Palestinian terrorism.

“Israel is at war,” Thompson wrote for the conservative website Townhall.com. And the Jewish state has gone to “incredible lengths to stop the war against them without harming Palestinian non-combatants.”

Thompson is also on record as supporting an Israeli military strike against Iran should international diplomacy fail to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear arms.

More liberal political elements in Israel fear Thompson may be too far to the right, and therefore end up harming Israel. During his time as a senator, Thompson was one of the sponsors of the Jerusalem Embassy Act demanding that the US government move its embassy to the Israeli capital in defiance of Palestinian claims to the city.