The major importance of this request is the fact that the Vatican holds the Temple Menorah of pure gold which, together with other holy vessels from the Temple, was stolen by the Romans and taken to Rome. After the destruction of the Temple and the Israeli kingdom in 70 CE, the Roman emperor Titus built a triumphal arch in Rome. The arch portrayed Israeli captives carrying to Rome the Menorah and other vessels taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. The information regarding the taking of the Menorah and the holy vessels to Rome and later, when the Roman Empire became Christian, being placed in the basement of the Vatican, has been passed down from generation to generation of the Jewish people. During the exile the holy Menorah and vessels remained at the focus of the memory of the Jewish people. Their dream was that one day soon they would recover them from the Vatican and return them to Jerusalem. This would be a sign of the beginning of the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem and the redemption of the people and land of Israel

This was the first time it has been done by an Israeli president since the destruction of the Temple

It should be noted that a previous Israeli Minister of Religion, Shimon Shitreet, had requested the Vatican return the holy golden Menorah as well as the other vessels