Netanyahu eulogizes Pope Francis after days of silence, amid tensions over Gaza stance
In terse message, PM says Israel ‘expresses its deepest condolences’ to Catholics worldwide, after Jerusalem’s muted response to pontiff’s death sparked ire from Israeli diplomats
After four days without comment, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday night offered terse condolences on the death of Pope Francis, underscoring a rift between Israel and the Vatican in the shadow of the war in Gaza.
“The State of Israel expresses its deepest condolences to the Catholic Church and the Catholic community worldwide at the passing of Pope Francis,” Netanyahu wrote on X. “May he rest in peace.”
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.
“Rest in peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing,” read the post. It was taken down hours later, and diplomatic missions around the world were ordered to take down any similar posts and not to sign condolence books in Vatican embassies, the Ynet news site reported Tuesday.
The deletion of the Foreign Ministry’s post was met with anger from Israeli diplomats, who said it caused significant damage internationally.
“We received no explanation, only an unequivocal order to delete,” a diplomat told Ynet. “When we asked, we were told that the issue was ‘under review.’ This does not satisfy us, and certainly not the public to whom we represent Israel.”
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
“Not only did we not say words of condolence, but we chose to erase them — and that looks bad,” said another. “Very bad.”
“It’s a low point in a spiral,” said one diplomat about the current relationship between the Vatican and Israel, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I hope both sides will be able to overcome the differences and climb out of this together.”
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 the Jewish state’s military response.
While expressing sympathy for Israeli victims and hostages, Francis suggested Israel’s subsequent offensives in Gaza and Lebanon were “immoral” and disproportionate. He also called for an investigation to determine whether Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute genocide, a charge Israel vehemently denies, while investigations at the UN’s top courts proceed.
Israel is not sending any senior government officials to Francis’s funeral, which takes place on Saturday, making do instead with its ambassador to the Holy See. According to the Israeli embassy to the Vatican, it will be represented at Francis’s funeral by Yaron Sideman, who has been its ambassador since September.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said this was due partially to scheduling conflicts and the funeral taking place on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, which requires Israeli politicians to stay within walking distance of the funeral. The decision was not indicative of any tension with the Vatican, he said.
“Israel will be represented in the most official way at the funeral through our ambassador there,” said Marmorstein. “There were things we didn’t agree with, but we are taking part in the funeral.”
Israel sent both then-president Moshe Katsav and then-foreign minister Silvan Shalom to the last funeral of a pope who died in office, that of Pope John Paul II in 2005.
The muted reaction to the pope’s passing by the Israeli government was met with disappointment from Catholic leaders in Israel, which is home to over 200,000 Christians, about half of whom are Catholic.
Speaking to the Haaretz daily, a spokesman for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Farid Jubran, said that while it was clear that many in Israel were dissatisfied with the Pope’s comments in recent years, “we should not forget what the Pope did for Israel just because of his criticism of the war.”
“There are citizens here for whom [the Pope] is their supreme spiritual leader. A word from the ministers or the prime minister would not have harmed anyone,” he said, speaking before Netanyahu issued his message of condolence.
Pope Francis died Monday at the age of 88, a day after marking Easter Sunday at the Vatican. He had recently spent over a month in the hospital with complications from pneumonia.
His death set in motion a series of carefully orchestrated rites and rituals well before the conclave to elect his successor begins. They involve the certification of death and public display of his body for the faithful to pay their respects, followed by the funeral and burial.
The funeral, which will take place on Saturday in St Peter’s Square, will be attended by 50 heads of state, 130 foreign delegations and 10 monarchs including US President Donald Trump, Argentina’s President Javier Milei, Britain’s Prince William and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who are expected to arrive on Friday in Rome.
Italy’s civil protection agency estimates that “several hundred thousand” people were set to descend on Rome on what was already set to be a busy weekend due to a public holiday on Friday.
After the funeral, Francis’s coffin will be driven at a walking pace to be buried at his favorite church, Rome’s papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
Following that, all eyes will turn to the process of choosing Francis’s successor. One of the candidates is Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who has lived in Israel for three decades.
The Times of Israel Community.