Israeli Tourism Minister Moshe Katzav is slated to meet next week in the Vatican with Pope John Paul II to discuss upcoming commemorations marking 2,000 years since the birth of Jesus. Katzav is expected to invite the pope to be the first Christian to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the year 2000. Israel estimates that some 4.5 million pilgrims will arrive in Israel for the celebrations. The Vatican puts the figure at around 7 million.
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