From the Liveblog of
Thursday, April 24, 2025
Netanyahu offers condolences on passing of Pope Francis after days of silence
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
After four days of silence, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally offers terse condolences on the passing of Pope Francis.
“The State of Israel expresses its deepest condolences to the Catholic Church and the Catholic community worldwide at the passing of Pope Francis,” he writes on X. “May he rest in peace.”
The State of Israel expresses its deepest condolences to the Catholic Church and the Catholic community worldwide at the passing of Pope Francis. May he rest in peace.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) April 24, 2025
President Isaac Herzog offered condolences on social media hours after Francis died on Monday, but the Foreign Ministry briefly posted, then deleted, its own condolences with no explanation.
The pontiff’s relationship with Israel and many Jewish leaders deteriorated after October 7, 2023, as he failed to pin the blame sufficiently on Hamas, and seemed to equate the terror group’s assault on Israeli towns with Israel’s military response.
Israel is not sending a senior official to Francis’s funeral, which takes place on Saturday, making do instead with its ambassador to the Holy See.
The Times of Israel Community.