(JTA) – Ahead of an audience with Pope Francis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Rome’s main synagogue where he lit Hanukkah candles with his Italian counterpart Enrico Letta.

Speaking to the Jewish community and the media at Sunday’s ceremony, Netanyahu reiterated his warnings that the recent agreement on Iran’s nuclear program was a “historic error.”

Letta said he “knew Israel’s positions, doubts and fears.” He said the current economic and social crisis fed “extremism, hate and intolerance,” and he pledged to resist the “racism, intolerance and xenophobia” that were growing in Italy “in a worrying manner.”

The two prime ministers were set to hold bilateral talks on Monday.