(Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan) Shalom meets Pope

The Jerusalem Post ^ | 11 December 2003 | HERB KEINON

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Dec. 11, 2003
Shalom meets Pope
By HERB KEINON

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom met Pope John Paul II in the Vatican Thursday and praised senior representatives of the Church for speaking out against anti-Semitism in general and anti-Semitism in the Arab world in particular.

Shalom said there is a need for Israel and the Vatican to work together to fight the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and around the world.

"We should not leave anti-Semitic statements without a response," Shalom said. "Verbal terror leads to violence and to the types of terror attacks we are seeing in Israel and around the world."

Shalom praised the Pope for his positive attitude toward the Jewish people over the years, and said he was encouraged by the pontiff's recent comments equating attacks against holy places with attacks on God.

Officials in Shalom's entourage said the 20 minute private meeting with the pope was held in an "excellent atmosphere," and that the Pope did not repeat his recent criticism of the security fence. The officials said that when Shalom left, the Pope held his arm and said, "God bless Israel."

AFP reported that Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro Valls said the Pope "insisted on the necessity to emerge from the current situation, as well as on the need for concrete acts for reconciliation by all."

Shalom told the Pope Israel will do everything it can to ease the access of Christian pilgrims to Israel. In a meeting he held afterward with Vatican Secretary of State Angelo Sodano and the Vatican's new foreign minister Giovanni Lajolo, Shalom raised the idea of setting up a joint committee to deal with problems that arise over matters such as access to holy places.

Regarding the diplomatic process, Shalom told the Pope that Israel is committed to peace and a final status agreement with the Palestinians through direct negotiations. "Terror has plagued us for dozens of years, and continues to trip up the peace efforts," Shalom said.

After meeting with the pope, Shalom flew to New York for the final leg of a week-long trip that has so far included meetings with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Nabil Sha'ath.

Shalom is to meet Friday in New York with media magnate Rupert Murdoch, the editorial staff at Time Magazine, and journalists at The New York Times. He will then go to Washington Sunday for meetings the next day with US Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. He is slated to return to Israel on Tuesday.