The pope’s itinerary included meetings with Mr. Netanyahu and with President Shimon Peres of Israel, who has accepted his invitation for a peace-prayer summit with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority in the Vatican next month.

Asked why Francis had invited Mr. Peres, whose position is largely ceremonial, rather than Mr. Netanyahu, who is Mr. Abbas’s counterpart in peace talks, the Vatican spokesman said the pope and the Israeli president had developed a warm relationship of “great esteem” and Mr. Peres had urged him with “great insistence” to visit the Holy Land before his term expires in July.

More here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/world/middleeast/pope-francis-jer...

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