The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs deleted the entry with condolences after the death of the Pope
“Pope Francis, rest in peace. Let his memory be blessed,” it was written on Monday after the Pope's death on official accounts run by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs on x, Facebook and Instagram services. A photo of Francis was attached to Francis a few hours after the publication of the message before the Jerusalem Wall of Cry during his visit to 2014. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs later announced that the entries were announced “by mistake”.
The President of Israel Icchak Hercog said goodbye on Monday by the Pope with an entry on the website X, in which he described Francis as “a man of deep faith and boundless compassion who devoted his life to encouraging the poor and appeals for peace in this restless world.”
So far, Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu or Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has not referred to the death of the Pope.
Francis condemned aggression in the Gaza Strip
“Israeli officials do not hide that this silence is directly related to the Pope's recent statements regarding the war and the Gaza Strip,” commented “Jerusalem Post”.
Until the last days, Francis condemned the war, appealed for peace, pointed out the tragic situation of civilians in the Gaza Strip, he also called for the release of Israeli hostages. At the same time, he defined Israeli bombing, in which children died in the Gaza Strip as “Cruelty, not war”, and he reminded that, according to some experts, “what is happening in the Gaza Strip has the features of genocide.”
Israeli authorities reject all accusations of breaking international law during the war. Francis alleged that he was excessively focusing on the criticism of Israel, without condemning the same power of terrorist Hamas.
The former ambassador critically about the department's decision. “We should not conduct such settlements after death”
The former Israeli ambassador at the Holy See, Raphael Schutz, however, criticized the approach of Israeli diplomacy in an interview with “Jerusalem Post”. “I think this is a wrong decision, we should not conduct such settlements after death,” he commented on the withdrawal of entries. He added that Franciszek's outrageous statements for Israel had to be reacted with diplomatically, but the sale of the death of a man who was a “spiritual leader for over a billion people is not a good message.”
It is not known whether the Israeli delegation will be present at the Saturday funeral of Francis in the Vatican. According to Schutz, Israel should send his representative, and his absence would be “unfortunate” and deepen the tension and a sense of isolation of the Jewish state.
