Israeli president Moshe Katsav said he shook hands with president Bashar al-Assad of Syria, a country formally at war with the Jewish state, and the president of Iran at the funeral of Pope John Paul.
Meanwhile, the rabbi with whom the Pope had friendly relations in Rome yesterday urged his successor to carry on John Paul II's rapprochement with the Jews.
The Israeli-Syria-Iran handshake is believed to be the first time an Israeli president has shaken hands with Syrian and Iranian leaders.
"The Syrian president sat in the chair behind me . . . we exchanged smiles and shook hands," Mr Katsav, who holds a largely ceremonial post, was quoted as telling the website of Israel's Maariv newspaper. The Iranian-born Mr Katsav also said he spoke at the Vatican funeral in his native Farsi with Iran's president Mohammad Khatami about their common city of birth. Iran officially seeks Israel's destruction.
"The president of Iran extended his hand to me, I shook it and told him in Farsi 'may peace be upon you'," Mr Katsav said. He said he later shook Mr Assad's hand a second time during the funeral. "This time it was the Syrian president who held out his hand to me," he was quoted as saying.
Israel and Syria last held peace negotiations in 2000 which foundered over the future of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which the Jewish state captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
Syria has called repeatedly for the talks to resume. Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has said Syrian forces must first pull out of Lebanon and stop supporting Lebanese and Palestinian militant groups before Israel would consider negotiations.
Pope John Paul's decision to mention a Jew in his will was a sign to his successor to continue and improve his record of opening to Judaism, Rome's former chief rabbi Elio Toaff said.
Mr Toaff, who welcomed the Pope on his ground-breaking visit to the city's synagogue in 1986, said in interviews with Italian newspapers published yesterday that he was surprised to be named along with two Roman Catholic prelates.
John Paul, the first pope to set foot in a synagogue, is seen as the pontiff who most helped to heal Jewish rifts with the Christian world after the Holocaust.
"It is a very important, moving fact that I did not expect," Mr Toaff told the newspaper La Repubblica. "It is a significant and profound gesture for Jews. But I think it is also an indication to the Catholic world.
"Pope Wojtyla wanted to indicate a road aimed at further destroying all the obstacles that have divided Jews and Christians through the centuries."
The former chief rabbi, who attended the Pope's funeral, said he hoped the next pope would uphold John Paul's legacy and "do even better . . . but it is unlikely that there will be someone else like him. Even if we are optimistic, I see many difficulties in finding a successor of his stature."
The two other people mentioned in the will released on Thursday were the Pope's mentor, the late Polish Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, and his long-time personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz.
Pope John Paul has been praised by Jewish leaders for his repeated condemnation of anti-Semitism and apologies for the historical mistreatment of Jews, whom he called "dearly beloved elder brothers". The Pope established full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1993 and in 2000, visited Israel's memorial to the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. He also prayed at Jerusalem's Western Wall for forgiveness for historical Christian mistreatment of Jews.
"The request for forgiveness was one of the greatest gestures of Pope John Paul," Mr Toaff said.
Remembering his first meeting with the Pope, Mr Toaff told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera: "He was ill, I went to see him. He was sleeping. I sent him my recovery and birthday wishes. The secretary came back with his eyes wide open. He had told him I should see him immediately. As soon as he saw me, he threw his arms around me."