His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI will be visiting the State of Israel between March 11 and March 15, 2009, following an official invitation from the President of Israel, Shimon Peres, during his visit in Italy in 2007.

Throughout his visit, the Pope will meet with Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Druze religious leaders, will visit various sites in Israel and will conduct Mass in the Kidron Valley and Manger Square in Bethlehem. 

Security measures are being taken in order to assure quality of life and traffic control in central areas of the visit.

The Israeli Minister of Tourism, Stas Misezhnikov, is the chairman of the inter-ministerial committee responsible for the Pope's visit.
A joint forum was established, consisting of all relevant bodies- The President's Office, Government offices, security agencies, local municipalities, the Chief Rabbinate and Yad Vahsem,  in order to coordinate the preparations.

The Ministry of Public Security and the Israel Police play a key role in the following fields during the visit:

• Command on the operation
• Over-all responsibility for security issues, public order and traffic control during the visit – deployment in case of protests, demonstrations, riots and other public disorders. In addition, a national police control center was established and is lead by the Commissioner, in full cooperation with the Israel Security Agency (Shabak), the IDF, the Prime Minister's Office and other relevant bodies.
• The Israel Police will be in charge of the security of the Pope and his delegation and the thousands of pilgrims and tourists who are expected to come to Israel during the visit. The Israel Police will maintain public order in a way which will reflect the democratic nature of the country and the freedom of worship for all religions as practiced in Israel, and will maintain the highest standards of internal security and day to day life for all citizens and guests of the State of Israel.
• The Minister of Public Security instructed the Israel Police to allocate significant resources and manpower towards the safety and 'no-error' visit of this magnitude.

The Ministry of tourism launched a website for the upcoming visit titled: "Pope Benedict XVI: In the Spirit of Unity and Peace" which has information on the papal pilgrimage in seven different languages, including his itinerary, information on Christian holy sites in Israel and other important information.
The address of the website is: www.holyland-pilgrimage.org

Israel Police information center
The Israel Police will have a call center starting at 2:30pm on Sunday, May 10th, and will be available throughout the visit from 6:30 am till 10:30 pm. The number is: 1-700-50-20-30

Central locations the Pope will be visiting:
• The Presidential Residence
• Yad Vashem
• The Old City
• The Western Wall
• Temple Mount
• Via Dolorosa
• Gethsemane Church
• Heichal Shlomo Synagogue
• Precipice Mountane
• Bascilica of the Annunciation

For the full Itinerary, please click here