Israel skips Pope Francis funeral, angering officials

Snub of pontiff's funeral following previous comments on Gaza sparks global criticism; deleting condolences on official government accounts worsens isolation, ex-officials say. Some 400,000 mourners attended the funeral of Pope Francis in a massive ceremony Saturday. However, Israel sent no official delegation to Rome, opting instead for its ambassador to the Vatican, Yaron Sideman, to represent the country. This decision comes against the backdrop of a diplomatic controversy surrounding the Foreign Ministry's move to delete condolence messages posted by Israeli missions worldwide immediately following Pope Francis' death. The late pontiff was known for his strong criticism of the ongoing war in Gaza. 

In an interview with Ynet, former Israeli ambassador to the Vatican Raphael Schutz sharply criticized the handling of the situation. "When a leader of this magnitude passes away, you don't deviate from diplomatic protocols," Schutz stated. "We should discuss our disagreements with the Vatican directly with the Vatican, not by boycotting the funeral. A funeral that the whole world is attending, from Trump downwards, our absence creates a negative front for us with the entire Catholic Christian world – 1.3 billion people." 

He added, "These are two different matters: you can continue to express your dissatisfaction with the deceased pope and detail why he was wrong, and at the same time, you attend the funeral. This is how the diplomatic world behaves. Beyond the fact that the funeral was an opportunity to meet other world leaders, as always happens at such funerals, Israel, through its absence, beyond the antagonism it created with the Christian world, also created yet another display of political isolation – and this is not a good image for us, certainly not in these times."  (Read More)