In late October, President Isaac Herzog and Pope Francis had such a tense conversation that Israel decided not to report on it, according to the Washington Post.
According to the report, a senior Israeli official familiar with the content of the conversation said that the Pope criticized the Israeli bombings in Gaza and said that "it is forbidden to respond with terror to terrorism." Herzog protested and made it clear that Israel's action was necessary to protect its citizens. But the Pope insisted that those responsible, not all citizens, should be punished. A few weeks after the conversation, the Pope said during a sermon that "what is happening in Gaza has already gone beyond the war. It's terrorism."
"The Pope effectively called the IDF operation 'terrorism,'" the senior Israeli official told The Post. How else can you interpret that?"
The Pope meets the relatives of the abductees, this month, Photo: Reuters
Last Wednesday, the Pope met with representatives of the families of the abductees and promised to do everything in his power to help secure their release. That same day, he met Palestinians whose relatives live in Gaza.
The Pope with relatives of Palestinians living in Gaza, photo: Reuters
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