Some of the pope’s comments on the Israel-Hamas War served “to distort Israel’s legitimate military campaign and fuel antisemitism and unjust targeting of the Jewish state,” the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations said.
Francis said last Saturday, in response to Hamas’s civil rescue agency claim that several children had died in an airstrike, “This is cruelty, this is not war.”
COP, which serves as an umbrella organization for 50 Jewish groups, said on Wednesday that while it appreciated the pope’s distress for the suffering of innocents and desire for peace, his remarks failed to contextualize the war fully.
“This narrative does not acknowledge Israel’s right to defend itself in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre where Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 innocent civilians and took 251 hostages, 101 of whom still remain captive,” said COP. “Further, it does not acknowledge Hamas’s use of human shields and civilian infrastructure for terror purposes, putting the entire population of Gaza at risk.”
COP urged the pope to build bridges between Christians and Jews – rather than make “incendiary comments.”
Earlier in December, the pope was criticized by both Christian and Israeli leaders for inaugurating a St. Peter’s Square nativity scene that depicted baby Jesus in a Palestinian keffiyeh cradle. Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli said in a December 19 letter that the “Nativity of Bethlehem 2024” was part of efforts to undermine Jewish historical connections to the Levant.
'Lived and died as a Jew'
“It is a well-known fact that Jesus was born to a Jewish mother, lived as a Jew, and died as a Jew,” said Chikli.
On November 17, excerpts of a book were published in which Francis noted that international experts said, “What is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” and “We should investigate carefully to assess whether this fits into the technical definition [of genocide] formulated by international jurists and organizations.”
Reuters reported that, in September, when Francis was asked about the Israeli airstrike in Lebanon that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the pope responded, “Defense must always be proportionate to the attack. When there is something disproportionate, you see a tendency to dominate that goes beyond morality.”
Jerusalem Post Staff and Danielle Greyman-Kennard contributed to this report.