National Union MK Michael Ben Ari declared Tuesday that next week's visit by Pope Benedict XVI, whom he referred to as a former member of the Nazis' youth movement, would be an insult to the memory of Holocaust victims.

"A state welcome for the pope would be turning our backs on the millions of Jews who were killed in the shadow of the Christian religion of grace and mercy," Ben Ari was quoted as saying by Israeli media. "This pope was a member of the Hitler Youth."

He made the comments at a Knesset session in which he called on lawmakers to rethink the pope's visit.

Ben Ari, a former member of the outlawed Kach movement, further said the Catholic Church is, and has always been, driven by anti-Semitic motivations.

"This pope brought back to the Church priests who deny the Holocaust and has renewed discussion on the accusation that Jews murdered Jesus," he added.

The lawmaker was …