premise: Pope Benedict XVI, who hopes one day to visit the Holy Land, on Wednesday met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in Italy as part of a brief European tour mainly aimed at drumming up support for sanctions against Iran's nuclear programme.
  The Israeli leader was given a private audience with the pope and was then to meet the Vatican head of government, Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone. The head of the Roman Catholic Church said in August he hoped to visit the Holy Land, if possible "in times of peace".
  Olmert, who flew to Italy on the second and final leg of a European visit, was then to meet his Italian counterpart Romano Prodi.
  In Germany, his previous stop, Olmert won backing for anti-Tehran sanctions from Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said that "unfortunately the time has come for sanctions" after Iran had turned its back on attempts to persuade it to stop enriching uranium.
   According to Angela Merkel, why has the time come for sanctions?
hypothesis: drumming up support for sanctions against Iran