Low-level Israeli representation at pope funeral follows decline in relations

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Most major nations will be sending heads of state or government, or royalty, to Pope Francis' funeral on Saturday, but Israel will be represented only by its ambassador to the Vatican.

The decision to keep the representation at about the lowest level possible is a sign of how far Israel's relations with the Vatican have deteriorated since the start of the war in Gaza in 2023, diplomats said.

It also follows an Israeli government decision to delete a social media post that had offered condolences for the pope's death.

Shortly after Francis' death was announced on Monday, the verified @Israel account used by the government on X published a message that read: "Rest in Peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing". It also showed an image of the pope visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

The post was later deleted without explanation. The Jerusalem Post quoted officials at the foreign ministry as saying it had been published in "error".

Israel sent a presidential delegation to the last funeral of a pope who died in office, that of Pope John Paul II in 2005. According to the Israeli embassy to the Vatican, it will be represented at Francis' funeral by Yaron Sideman, who has been its ambassador since September.

"It's a low point in a spiral," said one diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "I hope both sides will be able to overcome the differences and climb out of this together."

The Israeli embassy to the Vatican has limited its social media reaction to the pope's death by reposting a message of condolence to Christians in the Holy Land and around the world by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who described Francis as "a man of deep faith and boundless compassion".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a far-right coalition of religious and nationalist parties, had not commented on the pope's death as of Wednesday afternoon.

WAR OF WORDS

Relations between the Vatican and Israel have deteriorated steadily since Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages to Gaza.

More than 50,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, Palestinian health authorities say, and most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced.

A month after the conflict started, a messy dispute broke out over whether Pope Francis had used the word "genocide" to describe events in Gaza. Palestinians who met with him said he did. The Vatican said he did not.

The pope met relatives of Israeli hostages on the same day.

After the start of the war, Israel's then ambassador to the Vatican, Raphael Schutz, lobbied the Vatican's Secretariat of State repeatedly in late 2023 and throughout 2024, asking for the pope to be more forceful in his condemnation of Hamas.

"There is a simple distinction, one side is murdering, raping, and does not care about those on their own side. The other side is engaged in a war of self-defence," Schutz said in 2023.

Last year, after Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said Israel's response to the Hamas attack had been "disproportionate", Israel's embassy issued a statement calling his comments "deplorable".

The embassy later toned down its criticism, citing a translation error, but relations remained tense.

Last June, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican's foreign minister, appeared to rebuke Schutz at an event they both attended.

"The Holy See does not close its doors to anyone and strives to understand everyone's motivations and perspectives," Gallagher said. "In this regard, it is very much appreciated when the positions of one's own authorities are timely presented through the appropriate diplomatic forum and channels."

Francis, who visited the Holy Land in 2014, suggested last November that the global community should study whether Israel's military campaign in Gaza constituted genocide, in some of his most explicit criticism yet of Israel's conduct in its war with Hamas.

In January the pope called the humanitarian situation in Gaza "shameful", prompting criticism from Rome's chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, who accused Francis of "selective indignation".

Di Segni this week paid tribute to the pope, visiting his body in the chapel of the Vatican residence where he died. He has also said he will attend Francis' funeral, even though it is taking place on the Jewish Sabbath.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella, Editing by Crispian Balmer and Timothy Heritage)