Egypt Daily News – The Jerusalem Post reported on Tuesday that the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs deleted tweets offering condolences for the death of Pope Francis, fearing angry reactions due to the tense relationship between Tel Aviv and the late pope, who had repeatedly condemned the war on Gaza.
The newspaper quoted officials as saying the tweet was “posted by mistake,” and that Israel had responded to the pope’s statements during his lifetime but would not respond after his death.
The posts, which appeared on the official Israeli Foreign Ministry accounts on X in various languages, included the phrase: “Rest in peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing.”
Meanwhile, Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the tweets were deleted a few hours after being posted, and an order was issued to delete them from all Israeli missions around the world.
According to Israeli newspapers, diplomats were instructed to remove any post or tweet on the topic without providing an explanation.
Israel’s image
Israeli ambassadors in internal WhatsApp groups of the Foreign Ministry warned of “serious harm to Israel’s image,” especially in front of hundreds of millions of Catholics worldwide.
One ambassador said, “We are deleting a simple, innocent tweet that expresses basic condolences, and it’s obvious to everyone that the only reason is the pope’s criticism of Israel over the fighting in Gaza.” Maariv quoted former Israeli ambassador to Italy Dror Eydar as saying that Israel should not participate in Pope Francis’s funeral “if we have national dignity.”
Pope Francis made several statements condemning the war on Gaza. In December, he said Israeli airstrikes on the Strip were not a war but “cruelty,” and described the humanitarian situation there as “shameful.”
