Photo: AP PhotoIsraeli Foreign Ministry officials said Pope Francis had made "statements against Israel" and that the social media message was posted "by mistake."
Israeli the government first shared and then deleted a social media post expressing condolences for the death Pope Francis, and the Israeli media connected that move with the pope's criticism of the war in Gaza.
The official account @Israel posted a message on the X social network that read: "Rest in peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing," along with a photo of Pope Francis visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Post newspaper quoted foreign ministry officials as saying that Pope Francis had made "statements against Israel" and that the social media message was published "by mistake."
The Foreign Ministry, which IX said is linked to the verified @Israel account, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, the agency said.
Pope Francis, who died on Monday at the age of 88, suggested last November that the global community should investigate whether Israel's military campaign in Gaza constituted genocide against the Palestinian people, in one of the most outspoken criticisms of Israel's handling of the war with Hamas that began in October 2023.
In January, the Pope described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as "shameful", prompting criticism from Rome's chief rabbi who accused Pope Francis of "selective resentment".
Israel claims that accusations of genocide in its military campaign in Gaza are baseless and that it is working solely to suppress Hamas and other armed groups. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a far-right coalition of religious and nationalist parties, has not commented on the pope's death, according to Reuters.
Still, Israeli President Isaac Herzog sent a message of condolence to Christians in the Holy Land and around the world on Monday, describing Francis as "a man of deep faith and boundless compassion."
In 2014, Pope Francis visited the Western Wall, the holiest Jewish site, and prayed at the part of the wall built by Israel in the occupied West Bank that separates Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
Source: FoNet
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