Olmert to meet Pope during trip to Europe

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet Pope Benedict XVI during a trip to Europe next week.

Olmert’s spokeswoman, Miri Eisin, said the meeting would take place at the Vatican next Wednesday. There were no immediate details on the agenda of the talks.

While such meetings are rare, it is not the first time an Israeli leader will meet a Pope.

Israel and the Vatican established diplomatic relations in the 1990s, and the late Pope John Paul II hosted Israeli prime ministers and other officials as part of his effort to build ties with the Jewish state.