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Pope Francis is visiting Yad Vashem – Israel’s national Holocaust memorial – on the final leg of his three-day Middle East tour.

After arriving in Israel on Sunday, Pope Francis described the Holocaust as “an enduring symbol of the depths to which human evil can sink”.

On Monday, the Pope was also expected to visit religious sites in Jerusalem and hold talks with Israel’s chief rabbis.

The pontiff’s tour has already taken in Jordan and the Palestinian territories.

Pope Francis is expected to visit religious sites in Jerusalem and hold talks with Israel's chief rabbis

Pope Francis is expected to visit religious sites in Jerusalem and hold talks with Israel’s chief rabbis

On Sunday, the Pope invited Israeli President Shimon Peres and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican to pray for peace. Both accepted.

Monday’s itinerary began with a meeting with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which is situated on a disputed holy site known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and Jews as the Temple Mount.

Pope Francis entered the Dome of the Rock, from where Islamic tradition says the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.

Later, the Pope will visit the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in Judaism. It is part of the retaining wall of the Temple Mount dating back to a time when a Jewish temple stood there.

Before visiting Yad Vashem, Pope Francis laid a wreath at the tomb of Theodor Herzl, who is seen as the founder of modern Zionism.

Three previous pontiffs who have visited Jerusalem over the past 50 years have not visited the site.

The move was welcomed by PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

“We commend and appreciate your decision to lay a wreath on the grave of Binyamin Zev Herzl,” Benjamin Netanyahu said, using Theodor Herzl’s Hebrew name.

The official purpose for Pope Francis’ visit to the Holy Land is to improve ties with the Orthodox Church.

However, it comes just weeks after peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down.

Later on Monday, Pope Francis will travel to Tel Aviv, from where he will fly back to Rome.

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Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem has been defaced with graffiti by vandals denouncing Zionism.

One of the slogans daubed in paint on the walls of the memorial read: “If Hitler had not existed, the Zionists would have invented him.”

“This unprecedented act crosses a red line,” Yad Vashem chairman Avner Shalev said in a statement.

Suspicion for the attack has fallen on radical ultra-Orthodox Jews who oppose the creation of the state of Israel.

Avner Shalev pointed out in comments to local media that one of the slogans was signed “world ultra-Orthodox Jewry”.

“We are shocked and dazed by this callous expression of burning hatred against the Zionists and Zionism,” Avner Shalev said.

 

Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem has been defaced with graffiti by vandals denouncing Zionism

Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem has been defaced with graffiti by vandals denouncing Zionism

Photos of some of the other slogans have been published in the Israeli press, including one reading: “Thanks Hitler for the wonderful Holocaust you organized for us. Only thanks to you we got a state from the UN.“

Another reads: “Honorable government of Poland, stop allowing the Zionists to hold manipulative <<memorial>> ceremonies in Auschwitz.”

Education Minister Gideon Saar condemned the graffiti, saying: “Whoever desecrated and soiled Yad Vashem with these disturbed slogans did it with the aim of harming public sensibilities.”

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said an investigation was under way.

Some ultra-Orthodox Jews believe that a Jewish state can be established only after the coming of the Messiah, and that the state of Israel is therefore illegitimate.

Yad Vashem was established in 1953 and commemorates the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis during World War II.

 

 

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