Occupied Jerusalem: US President George W. Bush toured Israel's Holocaust memorial on Friday calling it a "sobering reminder" that evil must be resisted.
The Yad Vashem memorial was closed to the public, while armed soldiers and a police helicopter guarded the site.
Bush placed a red-white-and-blue wreath on a stone slab that covers ashes of Holocaust victims taken from six extermination camps. He also lit a torch in memorial of the dead.
"I was most impressed that…in the face of unspeakable crimes against humanity, brave souls—young and old—stood strong for what they believe," Bush said.
"I wish as many people as possible would come to this place. It is a sobering reminder that evil exists, and a call that when evil exists we must resist it," he said.
It was Bush's second visit to the Holocaust memorial. His first was in 1998, as governor of Texas.
Bush was accompanied on his tour by a small party that included Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Later on Friday, Bush was to wrap up his three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories with a visit to Christian holy sites in Galilee before departing for Kuwait.
