A day after Pope Francis touched the Palestinian side of Israel’s security fence, with his aides calling for all walls to be torn down, the pontiff paid a visit to the Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial on Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem.

Francis deviated from his whirlwind itinerary to visit a memorial to Israeli victims of terrorism, giving Israel his full attention a day after voicing strong solidarity for the Palestinian cause…

He made the unscheduled stop in a morning that also took in the Temple Mount, Western Wall, Yad Vashem and the grave of the founder of modern Zionism Theodor Herzl.

Israeli leaders were reportedly perturbed by the pope’s seeming agreement to a Palestinian request to alter his route to see what the Palestinians refer to as “the wall” but which is actually a security fence for more than 90 percent of its route.

Israeli officials tried to play down the significance of the Pope’s decision to stop at the barrier, which snakes across the parched hills between Jerusalem and the West Bank.

“We had expected that the Pope would make a human gesture. There’s nothing political here,” said a foreign ministry spokesman, who accused the Palestinians of turning the papal visit into “a propaganda stunt”.

Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau encouraged Pope Francis to speak out against terror referring to him as a potential “partner” in calling for an end to terror. Lau urged the pope to organize an international conference of religious leaders to show a united face against terror and anti-Semitism.

Lau spoke of the freedom of worship that exists in Israel because of the respect the country shows to all people.

He made his comments when the Pontiff met both chief rabbis of Israel and other Jewish leaders – a meeting that took place close to numerous terror attacks against Israelis, as Lau made clear in his remarks.

[Photo: PMO]