TEL AVIV, MAR 27 (ZENIT.org).- "Mercy has come to the State of Israel this week and has left banal politics to one side," the editor of Jewish newspaper "Haaretz" said today, commenting on John Paul II's pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

    Knesset President Abraham Burg's impression is similar. "Modern Christianity has changed," he said in an article in the "Maariv" newspaper. Based on what is taught in Israeli history books, he continued, what had been a "religion that spilt blood with the Crusades and the Inquisition, has become a religion in which its priests are raised to the level of Just among the Nations. It is not possible to understand the fall of totalitarian regimes in Latin America, in South Africa and in Poland without thinking, in recognition, of the man who yesterday kissed the Wailing Wall." However, from his point of view, currents are emerging in Judaism that are turning back to take refuge in the past.

    "Yediot Ahronot," the daily newspaper with the widest circulation in Israel, significantly dedicated two pages to the picture of the Pontiff in deep prayerful recollection at the Wailing Wall. "This historic visit has brought respect for Israel and contributed to pacification between Judaism and Christianity," Prime Minister Ehud Barak said to the newspaper.

    For Rabbi Michael Melchior, Minister for Diaspora Affairs, in just a few days "the Pope knocked down the psychological barriers that still existed between Jews and Christians." ZE00032706