"Because of Palestine": Israel withdraws condolences over Pope's death

The Israeli Foreign Ministry first published, but then deleted the Israeli side’s condolences on the death of Pope Francis. The reason for this step was the position of the head of the Vatican on Israeli military actions in Palestine, which the Pontiff criticized as “inhumane”. This is reported by The Jerusalem Post.

It is reported that after the news of the pontiff’s death, the accounts of the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted a uniform post: a photo of Pope Francis at the Wailing Wall with the caption: “Rest in peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing.” However, the posts disappeared shortly afterward, and the ministry attributed their publication to a mistake.

The media outlet added that the only Israeli official who responded to Pope Francis’ death was the country’s president, Isaac Herzog, whose powers are rather representational. Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Foreign Minister Gedeon Saar commented on the pontiff’s passing. At the same time, according to the newspaper, the officials did not hide too much the reason for the silence, which is directly related to Pope Francis’ position on the Gaza war. The head of the Roman Catholic Church several times commented on the events in Gaza, calling them “not war, but cruelty” and accusing Israel of “dropping bombs on children and mowing them down with machine guns.”

Earlier, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople expressed condolences over the death of Pope Francis. The head of the Phanar called the Pope “a true friend of Orthodoxy” and “supporter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate”.