Pope Benedict XVI on Monday said that anti-Semitism was "totally unacceptable".Speaking at the start of the most sensitive leg of his current Middle East tour, the pope said he would pray for the six million victims of the Holocaust and promised to fight anti-Semitism around the world.
"Sadly anti-Semitism continues to rear its ugly head in many part of the world. This is totally unacceptable," Benedict said in an address upon his arrival at Israel's Ben Gurion airport in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv.
"I will have the opportunity to honour the memory of the six million Jewish victims of the Shoah," Benedict said.
He was referring to the Jews believed to be among up to 12 million people murdered by the Nazis in their notorious World War II death camps.
The pontiff was due to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem later on Monday.
The pope in March sent to a letter to Catholic bishops in which he admitted he made a mistake when he lifted the excommunication of ultra-traditionalist Holocaust-denying bishop Richard Williamson - a move that angered many Jews.
Addressing the pope on his arrival, Israeli president Shimon Peres said he hoped the pontiff's visit would help "pave the road to peace".
In his arrival speech, Benedict immediately addressed the issue of Palestinian statehood.
"I plead with all those responsible to explore every possible avenue in the search for a just resolution of the outstanding difficulties," he stated.
"So that both people may live in peace in a homeland of their own within secure and internationally recognised borders."
"The hopes of countless men, women and children for a more secure and stable future depend on the outcome of negotiations for peace between Israelis and Palestinians," he said.
In his address, the Pope thanked Israel for his welcome to "a land", he said, "which is held holy by millions of believers around the world".
"I come, like so many others before me, to pray at the holy places, to pray especially for peace - peace here in the Holy Land, and peace throughout the world," said the pontiff.
Benedict has described his week-long visit to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories as "a pilgrimage for peace," aimed at bringing Muslims, Christians and Jews closer to together and increasing mutual tolerance and respect among faiths.
The pontiff made a plea for all worshippers from "the three great monotheistic religions" to have free access to the holy places of Jerusalem, which he said meant the "city of peace".
Besides being able to worship, Muslims, Christians and Jews should also be able to maintain and care for their sacred sites, he said.
The pope will later in the week visit the most sacred places in Jerusalem for Jews and Muslims, including the Wailing Wall. He will also visit a Palestinian refugee camp near the West Bank town of Bethlehem.
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