Obama wraps up Holy Land visit at Bethlehem church after Holocaust tribute

[NBCNews]

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / APU.S. President Barack Obama and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas walk in the Church of the Nativity during their visit to the West Bank city of Bethlehem on March 22, 2013. Jason Reed / ReutersObama meets Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III (3rd left) during a tour of the Church of the Nativity.Pablo Martinez Monsivais / APObama walks out of the Hall of Remembrance at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.By Matt Spetalnick and Ali Sawafta, Reuters

President Barack Obama made a pilgrimage on Friday to Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace  of Jesus.

At the Church of the Nativity, Obama ducked  to enter through its small Door of Humility. Manger Square, the plaza in front  of the church, was almost deserted except for security personnel.

Earlier, Obama visited Israel's most  powerful national symbols, paying homage at the Holocaust memorial and the  graves of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, and Yitzhak Rabin, the  prime minister assassinated in 1995 by an extremist Jew over peace moves with  the Palestinians.

Wearing a Jewish skullcap, Obama rekindled  an eternal flame at the Yad Vashem memorial next to a stone slab above ashes  recovered from Nazi extermination camps after World War Two.

"We have a choice to acquiesce to evil or make real our solemn vow - never again," Obama said.Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty ImagesObama tours the Hall of Names at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, alongside Avner Shalev (right), Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Uriel Sinai / Getty ImagesObama pays his respects in the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem after Marines laid a wreath on his behalf.Pablo Martinez Monsivais / APObama listens to Netanyahu during their visit to the Children's Memorial at Yad Vashem.Jason Reed / ReutersObama walks with Rabbi Israel Meir Lau in the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem.Previously on PhotoBlog: Obama begins first official trip to IsraelFollow @NBCNewsPictures

NBC News