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U.S. President George W. Bush lighting the eternal flame at Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem on Friday. (Reuters)
Last update - 02:08 12/01/2008
Bush leaves Israel with hope of 'chance of peace'
By News Agencies
Tags: Israel, Holocaust, Yad Vashem 

U.S. President George W. Bush concluded a three-day visit to Israel on Friday with hopes of a "chance for peace" in the region, and confirmed that he would return in May during Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations.

Bush departed for Kuwait to continue a week-long Mideast tour which will include Egypt and Saudi Arabia. His talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders were aimed at giving impetus to U.S. efforts for a Mideast peace deal following the international conference in Annapolis, Maryland in November.

"There's a good chance for peace and I want to help you," Bush said, flanked by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres at Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, where he boarded Air Force One.
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"Mr. Prime Minister and Mr. President, thank you very much for your invitation to come back. I'm accepting it now," Bush said on the tarmac.

Bush wrapped up his first presidential visit to Israel with visits to Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem and Christian holy sites in the north.

The U.S. leader summed up his visit Thursday evening, expressing his belief that a viable peace deal could be reached by the end of his presidential term in January 2009.

Bush toured Yad Vashem, accompanied by Olmert and Peres. The memorial to the six million Jews killed by the Nazis is a traditional stop for foreign dignitaries visiting Israel.

During his visit, Bush said that the instititution serves as a reminder of the existence of evil in the world that needs to be resisted.

"I would hope if many people in the world would come to this place, it would be a sobering reminder that evil exists and a call that when we find evil, we must resist it," Bush said while at the memorial.

Later Friday, Bush visited the site where Jesus is believed to have intoned "blessed are the peacemakers."

Near the hilltop where Christian faithful believe Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, two robed Franciscan friars, one of them reading to Bush from the gospels, escorted the president to a jetty on the Sea of Galilee.

Asked what it was like to be walking in Jesus's footsteps, Bush replied: "It's an amazing experience."

Holding the hands of two nuns, a beaming Bush entered the Franciscan chapel on the Mount of Beatitudes, overlooking the ruins of Capernaum where Christians believe Jesus performed miracles.

He also toured the ruins of an ancient synagogue at Capernaum, or Kfar Nahum in Hebrew, where tradition says Saint Peter lived.

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      1.   WE FIGHT EVIL BY COMMITTING EVIL? 10:44  |  Bushra 11/01/08
      2.   Bush really is stupid. 10:50  |  Michael 11/01/08
      3.   not forgotten 11:23  |  roland 11/01/08
      4.   Dear Maureen, Bush is Olmert`s kingmaker 11:36  |  Nora 11/01/08
      5.   Bush is a politician .. A politician is a tool, used by others 11:56  |  Natallie Durson 11/01/08
      6.   # 2 Bushra "& her arab propaganda deceptions` 12:06  |  Joseph E . 11/01/08
      7.   Roland 4 12:12  |  realism 11/01/08
      8.   Yeah Right Natallie! You Haven`t Said... 12:23  |  Yosemite 11/01/08
      9.   michael are you perhaps not too harsh on bush? 12:30  |  edward darcy 11/01/08
      10.   Yes it must be resisted 12:33  |  sh 11/01/08
      11.   Bush has just made possible a future Holocaust of the Jews 12:41  |  AliciaYasmeen 11/01/08
      12.   I hope he will not make things worse for the Jewish people 12:54  |  Edith 11/01/08
      13.   #6 The point is that... 12:57  |  Edith 11/01/08
      14.   Is this about Bush himself? 13:03  |  Edith 11/01/08
      15.   #13 The Palestinians are not going to be the enemy 13:08  |  Edith 11/01/08
      16.   #11 Edward Darcy: where is YOUR empathy? 13:09  |  AliciaYasmeen 11/01/08
      17.   13. for alicia the braindead 13:10  |  will they ever learn 11/01/08
      18.   #14 EDITH: does the opponent WANT the same as you do? 13:13  |  AliciaYasmeen 11/01/08
      19.   Hmmm 13:16  |  Bob 11/01/08
      20.   #1 Maureen Ann 13:16  |  * BEN JABO 11/01/08
      21.   Nim Miller 13:18  |  Stan 11/01/08
      22.   #15 Edith - Israel reached out - returned Gaza 13:20  |  * BEN JABO 11/01/08
      23.   Hmmm / Part II 13:22  |  Bob 11/01/08
      24.   Edward 11 you may be right but... 13:22  |  Michael 11/01/08
      25.   Hmmm / part III 13:24  |  Bob 11/01/08
      26.   AliciaYasmeen 13:35  |  Nik Miller 11/01/08
      27.   Seems a visit to Yad Vashem is what leaders do 13:56  |  Paul Wood 11/01/08
      28.   #3 14:05  |  Moshe 11/01/08
      29.   Bush in Bethlehem 14:13  |  Amen 11/01/08
      30.   will they ever learn - They don`t want to get along with Israel.. 14:23  |  as 11/01/08
      31.   #1 14:29  |  Moshe 11/01/08
      32.   # 3 Michael: you are right! 14:36  |  Gabi 11/01/08
      33.   Michael #3 Yeah! 14:36  |  S 11/01/08
      34.   #13 14:42  |  make sense? 11/01/08
      35.   Bush Comments on Yad Vashem 14:48  |  Yaakov Sullivan 11/01/08
      36.   I LOVE GW 14:51  |  Joe 11/01/08
      37.   alicia yasmeen 14:51  |  edward darcy 11/01/08
      38.   bush and Language Usage 14:55  |  Yaakov Sullivan 11/01/08
      39.   One good thing about G.W.Bush 15:10  |  ralph is back 11/01/08
      40.   Hopes for chances of peace 15:17  |  Isca 11/01/08
      41.   Maureen Ann in Australia 15:19  |  Sal 11/01/08
      42.   #4 Roland 15:25  |  David 11/01/08
      43.   Maureen and Nora 15:29  |  Nancy 11/01/08
      44.   nik MILLER 15:29  |  GAONI 11/01/08
      45.   In every generation 15:30  |  Joseph 11/01/08
      46.   IF THERE IS EVIL ONE MUST FIGHT 15:33  |  CHAIM SOLANKI 11/01/08
      47.   bush and the meaning of contradicitions 15:36  |  Yaakov Sullivan 11/01/08
      48.   Tears at Yad Vashem 15:36  |  The Other Alan 11/01/08
      49.   Beware of Greeks .... 15:37  |  Robbie 11/01/08
      50.   Joseph E to Bushra the Arab...... 15:38  |  William 11/01/08
      51.   The yarmulka suits him well 15:39  |  Edith 11/01/08
      52.   #20 Yes they do 15:40  |  Edith 11/01/08
      53.   BUSH PUSHING ANTI-ISRAEL AGENDA OF STATE DEPT ARABISTS 15:40  |  G. Marcus 11/01/08
      54.   Edward Darcy, # 11 to Michael 15:42  |  Michael J 11/01/08
      55.   #12 15:45  |  Jack 11/01/08
      56.   That`s an exceptionally tactless interpretation 15:48  |  Rowan Berkeley 11/01/08
      57.   Terrible news for Zionists 15:57  |  Clickfool 11/01/08
      58.   If Bush is serious about peace, Pollard is his roadmap, 1 16:07  |  David Turner 11/01/08
      59.   If Bush is serious about peace, Pollard is his roadmap, 2 16:07  |  David Turner 11/01/08
      60.   Beware A Bush Bearing Gifts 16:09  |  Tony Anthony 11/01/08
      61.   Bad omen: Putting out the eternal flame 16:14  |  Tosefta 11/01/08
      62.   Peace talks 16:22  |  mart 11/01/08
      63.   Where are all the posts? 16:30  |  Israel Bush 11/01/08
      64.   Bush has no historical knowledge. 16:31  |  John Fellows 11/01/08
      65.   natallie, i coclude as you do. a politico 16:42  |  bozhidar 11/01/08
      66.   When You Visit Yad Vashem You Understand Why 16:45  |  Eli 11/01/08
      67.   Thank you Roland No. 3 16:59  |  Jackie 11/01/08
      68.   # 14 Edith / Belgium 17:08  |  Joseph E . 11/01/08
      69.   Yaacov Sullivan_He Would Say Geography Is At Faultu 17:11  |  Eli 11/01/08
      70.   SS muslim division and Natalie Durson 17:14  |  Rasputin 11/01/08
      71.   Walking the talk, the amazing experience. 17:14  |  Simon 11/01/08