Image shows Lebanon president shaking hands with spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community at Vatican

An image published by the Kan public broadcaster shows Lebanese President Joseph Aoun shaking hands with Sheikh Muafak Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community, on the sidelines of Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration mass at the Vatican.

The photo shows a rare public meeting between an Israeli and Lebanese official.

Following the photo’s publication, the Lebanese Presidential Office released a statement denying Aoun knew who he was shaking hands with.

“While on his way to the mass of Pope Leo, a Druze cleric approached the President of Lebanon and shook his hand. The president did not recognize him and had never met him before. It later became clear that the man was Sheikh Muafak Tarif, the representative of the Druze community in Israel. The Israeli Broadcasting Authority distributed the photo and a caption contradicting the truth.”

Rare sight: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun shakes hands with Israeli Druze leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif at the Vatican during the new pope’s inauguration. @kaisos1987 pic.twitter.com/EVsoRyq9y8

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 18, 2025

The Druze religious sect is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel.