Wrapping up a three-day visit to Israel, U.S. President Barack Obama paid his respects to heroes of Israel and victims of the Holocaust on Thursday, before touring the biblical birthplace of Jesus Christ.
Accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres, Obama laid wreaths at the graves of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism who died in 1904 before realizing his dream of a Jewish homeland, and former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated in 1995.
Obama and his hosts arrived at the somber Herzl grave site under cloudless skies. Obama approached Herzl's resting place alone and bowed his head in silence. He turned briefly to ask Netanyahu where to place a small stone in the Jewish custom, then laid the stone atop the grave.
Obama, Peres and Netanyahu then toured the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. The U.S. president visited the Hall of Names, where Holocaust victims are memorialized. He said the memorial illustrates the depravity to which man can sink but also serves as a reminder of the "righteous among nations who refused to be bystanders."
Before leaving for Jordan, Obama had lunch with Netanyahu and then took his motorcade to Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity.
Obama had been scheduled to take a helicopter to Bethlehem but had to change plans due to unusually high winds.
About 300 Palestinians and international pilgrims gathered near the Nativity Church, awaiting Obama's arrival. But about 50 Palestinian demonstrators gathered on the main road with signs saying "Free Palestine."
U.S. President Barack Obama lays a wreath at the Hall of Remembrance during his visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. (Jason Reed/Reuters ) Later in the day, Obama was travelling to Jordan where he planned to meet with King Abdullah II. Among the topics is Jordan's struggle with the influx of a half-million refugees from the Syrian civil war. Abdullah has voiced fears that extremists and terrorists could create a regional base in Jordan.
Friday's stop at Herzl's grave, together with Thursday's visit to see the Dead Sea Scrolls, the ancient Hebrew texts, were symbolic stops for Obama that acknowledged that the rationale for Israel's existence rests with its historical ties to the region and with a vision that predated the Holocaust.
At Rabin's grave a short walk away, Obama was greeted by members of Rabin's family. He initially placed a stone on Rabin's wife's side of the grave, then returned to place one atop Rabin's side. In a gesture linking the U.S. and Israel, the stone placed on Rabin's grave was from the grounds of the Martin Luther King memorial in Washington, the White House said.
Obama told family members that Rabin was "a great man."
He joked that "Bibi arranged for perfect weather," using Netanyahu's familiar name. He then added that "Shimon plied me with wine" at the official state dinner Thursday evening.
During small talk with Rabin's family about the singer who performed at the dinner, Obama pointed out that he was known to sing, too. "They had me on YouTube," he said with a laugh. "Check it out — Obama singing Al Green."
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