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Israel, official silence on the death of Pope Francis: Foreign Ministry post deleted

After President Herzog’s condolence message, neither Netanyahu nor Sa’ar made any statement. A short institutional post was removed from social media

The condolences for the death of Pope Francis, who passed away in the past few days, have spread across the world with official statements by numerous political and religious leaders. In Israel, however, the silence of the main authorities has caused a stir. After the words of President Isaac Herzog, who on X wished that the Pontiff’s call for peace and the return of the hostages could be realised, no statement came from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor from Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

Creating a further stir was the removal of a post published on the official social channels of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which read: ‘Rest in peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing.” The post was deleted shortly afterwards. ‘It was published in error,’ explained sources within the dicastery, quoted by the Jerusalem Post, pointing out that ‘we respect the feelings of his faithful.’

According to government sources quoted by the same Israeli daily, the silence was not accidental but the result of a political decision linked to the Pope’s recent statements on the conflict in Gaza. On several occasions Francis had condemned the Israeli military operation, saying that ‘it is not a war, it is cruelty’ and accusing Israel of ‘bombing children’ and of behaviour that ‘resembles genocide’.

A line that, according to many analysts, has stiffened relations between the Jewish State and the Vatican. However, there is no lack of critical voices within the Israeli institutions themselves. Raphael Schutz, ambassador to the Vatican until last summer, called the government’s silence ‘a mistake’. ‘We are not only talking about a head of state, but also about a spiritual leader for over a billion people,’ he said. ‘The Pope’s words should have been answered then, not now that he is dead.’

In view of the funeral planned for Saturday, Schutz warned of the impact of a possible absence of the Israeli authorities: ‘It would be conspicuous and would give a bad image of us, reinforcing the international isolation already accentuated by the ongoing conflict. It would not make sense to throw petrol on the fire at such a time’.

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