President Moshe Katzav met late this morning with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican. This was the first time an Israeli President has met with a Pope in the Vatican. It was reported beforehand that Katzav was to promise the Catholic leader that the IDF would withdraw from Bethlehem before the upcoming Christian holidays. The IDF re-entered Bethlehem three weeks ago following the suicide bus-bombing in southern Jerusalem that killed 11 people.