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 The BBC's Jeremy Bowen reports"Pope John Paul is stepping into a political cauldron"  real 28k  The BBC's Hilary Andersson"This was a highly symbolic moment, not just in religious terms"  real 28k |
We all know how urgent is the need for peace and justice, not for Israel alone but for the entire region  |
Pope John Paul II
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"We all know how urgent is the need for peace and justice, not for Israel alone but for the entire region," the Pope said in English at a welcoming ceremony at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.
"May peace be God's gift to the Land he chose as his own," said the 79-year-old pontiff.
 Pope John Paul II hands over his skullcap to an aide upon his arrival
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Israel is the second stage of a week-long spiritual journey which will take the Pope to the most sacred Christian sites in the Holy Land.
Click for sacred sites on the Pope's tour
This is only the second time a Pope has visited Israel - and Pope Paul VI's trip in 1964 did not have official status.
A Royal Jordanian Airlines plane carrying the Pope and his entourage landed at Tel Aviv airport after a brief flight from the Jordanian capital, Amman.
'Welcome to the Holy Land'
"Welcome to the Holy Land," said Prime Minister Ehud Barak as he shook the pontiff's hand, after John Paul II touched his lips to a bowl of Israeli soil carried by three children - a Christian, a Muslim and a Jew.
In a welcoming speech, Israeli President Ezer Weizman paid tribute to the Pope's struggle against anti-Semitism.
"We appreciate your role in condemning anti-Semitism as a sin against heaven and humanity and we appreciate that you have also asked for a pardon for the crimes committed against the Jewish people in the name of the Catholic church," he said.
 This is only the second time a Pope visits Israel
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The Vatican, which only recognised the state of Israel in 1994, does not recognise its claims over east Jerusalem, which the Jewish state captured and annexed in 1967.
Telegram
During his flight from Amman to Tel-Aviv, the Pope sent a telegram to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
In his message, John Paul II said: "In eager anticipation of my visit to Bethlehem and the Palestinian territories I ask Almighty God to bless the Palestinian people and to strengthen in all the peoples of the Middle East the resolve to bring about a just and stable peace in the region."
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