Harsh words by a delegation of German bishops during a weekend visit to Israel, including a reference to "Ghetto Ramallah," aroused consternation at the German Embassy yesterday. "It is difficult to understand how they could say these things, the embassy said. "Only a few hours earlier the head of the delegation said moving things during a visit to Yad Vashem."

The Permanent Mission of the German Bishops' Conference to the Holy Land sent representatives from all 27 German bishoprics to Israel last week for a seven-day visit that also included the Christian holy places.

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On Friday, the group went to Ramallah after a visit of a number of hours at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority. "During the visit we saw at Yad Vashem the pictures from the Warsaw Ghetto and in the evening we are traveling to Ghetto Ramallah," Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke told reporters who accompanied the group.

Earlier, when the group crossed the separation fence, Cardinal Joachim Meisner said "something like this is done to animals, not to human beings." Meisner, the Archbishop of Cologne, is from the former East Germany. "I never in my life thought to see something like this again," he said.

This is the first time the high-level Catholic ecclesiastical body has traveled outside Germany as a group anywhere but the Vatican.

At Yad Vashem, the clerics met with Deputy Premier Shimon Peres and asked about the state of the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians. They expressed a desire to assist in bringing peace to the region.

The group returned to Germany on Sunday, and Monday their statements were released in the media throughout Germany.