2023-12-02T05:48:18+00:00
A-
A
A+
/ The Washington Post revealed that Pope Francis spoke by phone with the Israeli president late last October about Gaza, in a call that was not disclosed, and said that the conversation was fraught with tension.
According to the newspaper: “Israeli President Isaac Herzog made a tense phone call with Pope Francis. The Israeli president was describing the horror that befell his country from the Hamas attack on October 7, but Pope Francis gave a frank response.”
The newspaper quoted a senior Israeli official familiar with the call, which had not been previously reported. During the call, the Pope responded to Herzog by saying, “It is forbidden to respond to terrorism with terrorism.”
Herzog protested, reiterating the position that the Israeli government was doing what was needed in Gaza to defend its people. While the Pope continued, saying that those responsible should indeed be held accountable, but not civilians.
The Vatican refused to clarify whether the Pope described the Israeli operations in Gaza publicly or privately as terrorism. But in a statement to The Washington Post, she acknowledged a phone call between the pope and Herzog. “The phone call, like others on the same days, takes place in the context of the Holy Father’s efforts to contain the seriousness and scope of the conflict situation in the Holy Land,” the statement said.
A Vatican spokesman told reporters that the Pope, to his knowledge, did not say the word “genocide,” but he did not definitively rule it out. The Pope has regularly warned against suffering.
A spokesman for the Israeli President’s Office also declined to comment, saying: “We are not inclined to refer to private conversations.”
The newspaper pointed out that the Pope’s statements sparked condemnation from pro-Israel groups, such as the American Jewish Committee, and reignited historical tensions between some Jewish leaders and the Vatican, as well as the emergence of fears among some pro-Israel organizations that Francis has greater potential than most political leaders to influence… Universal sentiment.
Source: Washington Post – RT