The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, prayed with the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis at the Western Wall in Jerusalem today, before visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum where he praised the Jewish people and lamented centuries of hatred against them.
Welby prayed for peace at the iconic holy Jewish site and spoke out against antisemitism as 'the root of all racism' at the world-renowned and haunting museum.
Calling for reconciliation between the Christian and Jewish peoples, Welby said: 'Within European culture, the root of all racism, I think, is found in antisemitism. It goes back more than 1,000 years in Europe. Within our Christian tradition, there has been century upon century of these terrible, terrible hatreds in which one people, who at the same time have contributed more to our culture as a people than almost any other that one can identify, that one people are also hated more specifically, more violently, more determinedly, more systematically than any other people.'
The Chief Rabbi said: 'The Archbishop of Canterbury's presence here in Jerusalem and his prayers for peace and reconciliation, particularly at Yad Vashem and the Western Wall, are indicative of historic, positive developments in the Anglican Jewish relationship.
'I would so love to send a message of hope back through the annals of history – to Clifford's Tower in York, to the medieval communities who endured the scourge of the blood libel and to those whose lives were devastated by the Crusades – to let them know that a Chief Rabbi and an Archbishop of Canterbury would one day pray alongside one another, as close friends, in the holy City of Jerusalem.'
Clifford's Tower was the site of a horrific massacre of York's Jewish population by a violent mob in 1190.
Mirvis joined Welby on the trip at the invitation of Lambeth Palace after the two leaders became close friends.
'That the Archbishop would make time, in what is an exceptionally busy schedule, to see the State of Israel as I see it – a priceless Divine gift, which brought deliverance to the Jewish world after centuries of prayer and yearning, is a testament to the high regard in which he holds the Jewish community,' Mervis said.
The Archbishop and the Chief Rabbi gave short speeches following their time at Yad Vashem which were posted on Facebook.
Next week, Welby is set to visit Bethlehem, where he will meet with the Palestinian Christian community and the city's Christian Mayor, Vera Baboun. He is expected to comment on the plight of Palestinian Christians.
Welby, who is on a 12-day tour of the Holy Land, will this evening attend an interfaith reception in Jerusalem.
